When Thomas, the director of the Space Center, asked about the alien entities on Mars, William's outward expression turned displeased, though inwardly he didn't care much.
"You already have that Cybertronian Scorpion robot to study—still not enough?" William said, faking irritation.
Thomas responded with resignation. "Mr. Devonshire, I understand the Space Center's leak upset you greatly.
"But everyone here has undergone triple security clearances, pledged their lives and reputations to secrecy, and even moved their immediate families to a secure compound."
William glanced at the dozen or so solemn-looking staff members in the command center. Since he had never truly cared whether the Space Center leaked information or not—because nothing he shared with them was genuinely top-secret—he pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Fine, I'll trust you one more time. Let's connect again in an hour.
"By then, I want to see Richard and Prince Wilson in the call. See you later."
Ending the communication, William piloted his spacecraft to recover the four single-person escape pods he had deployed earlier.
While inspecting the pods, he noticed a handprint left by Starscream on one of them. He considered opening a portal to replace the pod but quickly changed his mind, deciding it might be better to keep it for now.
As the hour passed, Sunday reminded him, "Sir, there are five minutes until your scheduled connection with London. Shall I establish the video link now?"
"Go ahead."
The video connected, and Prince Wilson's flushed face appeared, excitement written all over it.
"Hey, Wilson! Long time no see," William greeted with a smile.
"'Long time no see,' my foot!" Wilson rolled his eyes and snapped back, "You have no idea how many times I've tried to contact you over the past few months!
"And how dare you go to Mars, the greatest adventure ever, without taking me along? I thought we were mates!"
"Enough," William cut him off, annoyed. "Let's finish business first. We can chat later."
He shot a warning glare at the unreliable prince, thinking about how Wilson's parents, Philip and Charlotte, would likely have hunted him down if he had brought Wilson to Mars.
Wilson merely shrugged off the reprimand and stepped aside, unfazed.
Turning his attention to Richard and General Marco, William asked, "So, what have you learned from studying that Scorpion robot?"
Richard shook his head. "The timeframe has been too short. Over the past few days, we've only been able to conduct background checks on the lead researchers. As for progress..."
Richard's voice trailed off as his eyes locked onto the escape pod behind William.
Noticing the massive handprint on it, Richard immediately asked, "Did you encounter an attack on Mars?"
Feigning confusion, William paused before turning to glance at the pod behind him.
Pointing at the handprint, he explained, "That's from one of the Cybertronian robots that chased me to Mars."
"And where's the robot now?" General Marco asked, recalling reports that Starscream had been destroyed. He rephrased his question, "Can your spacecraft bring it back for study?"
"Oh, I see," William said with a smirk. "You're interested in learning the secrets of Cybertronian metal transformation, aren't you?"
He shook his head. "If I were you, I wouldn't pursue that. If you must study them, don't target Decepticons. Their bodies are practically engineered for madness and slaughter."
"Decepticons?" Marco immediately caught the key term and asked urgently, "Does that mean there are other factions? From what you're saying, if there are mad ones, then the other faction must be more rational?"
Hearing this, Richard also perked up, his gaze fixed on William with growing interest.
William shrugged. "You're correct. As far as I know, Cybertronians are divided into two factions: Decepticons, which are primarily combat robots, and Autobots, which are predominantly engineering robots.
"And these beings have actually been on Earth for a very long time. In fact, their first recorded landing site is in England."
"What?"
Both Richard and Marco exclaimed in shock. "Where?"
Chuckling, William replied, "Sorry, but you'll have to wait until I return to Earth and London. Maybe then we can discuss forming a dedicated combat unit to handle extraterrestrials.
"If that happens, I might tell you everything I know—and even help the new unit capture a live Transformer for research."
"Damn it," Marco muttered, exchanging a knowing glance with Richard.
They both understood that William's reluctance was calculated. He didn't fully trust them and was using the promise of further cooperation to ensure their continued support for the rescue mission.
Of course, their mistrust was mutual.
"You already control Kingsman, an independent intelligence agency," Richard countered. "No one would hand you control of a new unit.
"Besides, we've already imposed a secret lockdown on London for your sake, eliminated dozens of foreign spies, and secured your 30,000-acre estate to protect your mother.
"We've even mobilized national resources to build your rescue spacecraft. Isn't that enough to earn your trust?"
"Ha! That's your job, isn't it?" William retorted with a frown.
"Do you think that if I told the Americans I wanted to immigrate there, Benjamin Arthur wouldn't approve my application immediately?
"Not only that, but I'd bet he'd have my requested spacecraft components produced within thirty days."
William's tone turned cold. "It's not me who needs you; it's you who needs me. And cooperating with you has already antagonized the Americans.
"Under these circumstances, don't you think I should take extra precautions and gather more leverage to ensure that if you cave to American pressure, I'll have the means to force you to back me up?"
"This..."
Richard hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. I'll chalk this up to your paranoia from being stranded on Mars.
"But when you're safely back in London, I expect you to apologize to those who've worked tirelessly for you without receiving your trust."
"No problem," William replied casually, showing no sign of guilt.
"As long as I get back safely, I promise that England will surpass the U.S. in many areas.
"Take gold reserves, for example. If you can solve the financial issues, I'll ensure England's gold reserves grow by 1,000 tons annually."
"We'll see about that," Richard said skeptically.
While the prospect of increased gold reserves delighted him, he was keenly aware that England's tax rates meant they'd receive only 1,000 tons, while William himself would likely hoard 1,200 tons.
And who knew how many spacecraft William already had?
Richard doubted someone capable of producing critical components wouldn't secretly build additional spacecraft for his own use.
(End of Chapter)
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