William was wealthy. He had power, influence, and numerous subordinates. At over sixty years old, he could not resist the temptation of immortality.
As for the subordinate who had been killed, Pierce didn't care. To him, the man's death was insignificant. If Pierce hadn't had other considerations, he might have been persuaded by his subordinates to make a move on William's woman. In that case, it would be questionable whether Pierce would still be alive today.
For William, however, his cooperation with Alexander Pierce was not about immortality. His goal was simple: the Cosmic Cube.
But outright stating that he wanted the Cosmic Cube would have been foolish. So, he used the promise of immortality—a dream that most people yearn for but cannot achieve—to mislead them.
As for where to find clues about the Xenomorphs, William had already devised a plan to ensure that Pierce and the Hydra organization behind him believed it completely.
Three days later, in Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, William, wearing a Mark III combat suit, stood on the ice shelf next to the Predator pyramid, waiting for the arrival of a Predator spaceship.
Two days earlier, after speaking with Pierce about the pyramid, Sunday reported that a team posing as researchers had come to inspect the massive ice cavern left behind when the Predator warship destroyed the ice layer and the pyramid.
Two days after discovering the ice cavern, a group of over a hundred people had set up camp near it, bringing various kinds of equipment, with more continuing to arrive.
Faced with the impossibly smooth and enormous ice cavern, the entire Ross Ice Shelf was now completely sealed off.
Ten minutes later, William received a communication on his device from the Predators in outer space. He got into a snow vehicle and drove about ten kilometers from the ice cavern camp to pinpoint his location.
Seconds later, a combat-oriented spaceship, about 300 meters long, decloaked above him.
A beam of light shone down, and a group of fully armed Predators, wearing helmets adorned with black plumes, descended.
Led by a Predator with a red plume, the group stopped a few meters away from William, bowed their heads, and saluted with a hand to their chests.
Thanks to the language pack he had obtained from the Predator leader earlier, William returned the salute. The two sides then reviewed the previous planetary trade agreement.
William handed the Predator warriors 200 healing charms in exchange for 200 energy crystals.
These Predators were clearly elite warriors focused solely on combat. To test the effectiveness of the charms, one of them unhesitatingly stabbed their companion in the chest.
As the others subtly kept an eye on William, they silently observed the injured warrior using the charm.
The effect was immediate. The charm, made from alien jade, proved significantly more potent than ordinary nephrite. Within five seconds, the wounded Predator not only stopped bleeding but also regained strength and stamina.
At this, all the Predators willingly saluted William with their fists to their chests.
With these 200 charms, the Predators, given their penchant for close combat, would have significantly increased survival rates.
"I need more jade," William said, holding up a finely cut jade plaque that radiated a milky white glow. "The jade you've brought so far—this type of mineral works best."
"Understood," the red-plumed Predator said after operating his wrist computer for a moment. Discovering that the mineral was abundant, he displayed an excited expression. "Next time we trade, we'll bring about 100 tons of this type of jade, along with one ton each of new types of jade we've recently found."
"Good."
The jade plaque William had shown was not the highest quality; its effectiveness was correspondingly limited. The charms he provided to the Predators healed within five seconds, while the best quality charms healed in three seconds, nearly matching the effect of his direct self-healing magic.
After completing the transaction, William smiled at the Predators, who were preparing to leave, and said, "I need a favor."
The leader nodded, and William said directly, "At the site of the pyramid you destroyed, there's a human camp. I need you to fly your ship above the ice cavern, exposing just enough of its outline to be visible to the naked eye."
The Predator leader hesitated briefly before replying, "If it's just distorting the air and revealing the ship's edges and tail, that shouldn't be a problem."
"That'll be sufficient," William replied with a smile. "Our next trade is in ten days, correct?"
The leader nodded. William tossed him two more healing charms. "These two are payment: one for leaving two Xenomorph corpses at the specified coordinates on Mars for me, and the other for taking me to Mars right now."
The leader, without hesitation, nodded after examining the charms. "No problem. Please follow me."
Boarding the clearly combat-oriented spaceship, William arrived on Mars in just over ten minutes. He threw out a specially modified tracking device before immediately returning to Earth's South Pole.
As the departing spaceship hovered above the pyramid's ice cavern, it created distortions in the air, briefly revealing its outline.
This left the dozens of scientists at the camp utterly stunned, their mouths agape.
Watching the chaos in the camp, William opened a portal and returned to his estate in London.
He had expected Pierce to contact him soon, but surprisingly, the old man remained silent. Either Pierce was incredibly patient, or Hydra simply wanted to investigate the aliens and Xenomorphs independently.
Ten days later, in the mountains near the Yellowstone Park base, William met with the Predator leader again. They exchanged another 200 healing charms and energy crystals.
"As per your request, we've already left the Xenomorph corpses on Mars. However," the leader hesitated briefly before continuing, "we could have wiped out a third camp of modified Predators by now if we had more healing charms.
If possible, we'd like you to provide an additional 100 charms every ten days."
"How is that possible? You only have 40 people, so how could you go through them so quickly?"
William didn't mind increasing his supply, but he needed to make a show of reluctance to raise the price.
Shaking his head, he said, "I can only make 20 charms a day. Producing more would harm me. Sorry."
"That's unfortunate," the leader sighed. "You've never been to a battlefield. You can't wait until someone is severely injured to use a charm.
To survive, we have to use the charms for even minor injuries that impair movement; otherwise, death is inevitable.
We learned this lesson after losing three comrades in our first battle. In the second battle, although no one died, our consumption doubled.
If we had enough charms for everyone to carry two, we would have eliminated the third camp of modified Predators days ago."
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