"What kind of reward do you want? You're already a rich man, do you still want to haggle over tens of thousands of pounds with me? Our department is very poor."
"Two hundred thousand pounds isn't money? Why wouldn't I take it? I support my team myself, you don't give me money, and now you want me to go on a mission without pay? Then do it yourself. I'm not interested in your business."
"When did I say two hundred thousand pounds? It's just catching a person. With two hundred thousand pounds, I could hire a mercenary group to do it."
"Rounding up tens of thousands to twenty thousand, it's all the same. Without money, who's going to work for you? Even if the King of England came, it wouldn't matter. Besides, it's not your money. You need to give me a proper task payment."
William was definitely going to ask for money; otherwise, these guys would keep coming to him for help, and who doesn't like free labor?
Gareth said gloomily, "Just one hundred thousand pounds, not a penny more."
One hundred thousand is better than nothing. William continued, "Also, give me a formal letter of task authorization and special action rights, stating that under special circumstances, I have the right to take any extreme measures. Without this authorization, I won't do the job. After the task, someone might come after me for trouble."
Gareth looked at William strangely and said, "Doesn't your family have formal documents for special action rights? Didn't Henry give them to you?"
"Those are decades-old documents, and I haven't inherited the title yet. Who knows if the current government will still recognize them if something happens? I don't want to invite trouble. From now on, all the tasks you give me must come with a formal authorization document from the committee."
"Alright, I'll give you the formal authorization documents," Gareth said with a hint of joy.
William's acceptance of the committee's formal document authorization made Gareth very happy.
Willingness to accept the committee's leadership meant William was aligning himself with them. This was excellent for the committee—an additional power at no extra cost. Although William was a bit difficult to handle, as long as he was given benefits, he could be mobilized. The more they cooperated, the more trust would build, and William could eventually become one of them.
"I'll get you the formal documents by tonight."
William, currently a lone wolf, was naturally looking for people to cooperate with. With benefits first and troubles later, having special action rights meant William could do private work without being punished. A formal title was still very important; in other words, this special action right was a legal license to send people to see Satan. Of course, it was best to have a reasonable excuse when using it; otherwise, it would be taken back after just one use.
Without this benefit, William wouldn't even consider working for the English government for free, especially since his soul wasn't English.
"Also," William added.
"Still more?" Gareth said, dissatisfied.
"Of course there's more. Although my identity is considered open to some people, I can't use my MI6 identity every time. If the media exposes it, how am I supposed to live?" William complained.
"Alright, that indeed is a problem. What do you want directly?" Gareth asked.
William thought for a moment and said, "Give me the title of an England Security Committee Action Consultant. That's not too much, right? Even if this identity is exposed, it doesn't matter. On the surface, it's just a consultant, which many people can hold. It'll make things easier for me in the future."
This time, Gareth agreed without hesitation, "No problem, I'll send it to you tonight along with the other documents. Alright, let's leave it at that. Commander Bromley, it's dinner time. How about we go to Bellamy Street for some pizza?"
Richard knew Gareth wanted to slip away and nodded, "Alright, Gareth, I haven't had pizza from that place in a long time."
"Well then, thank you for your help, William. We'll stay in touch. Goodbye," Richard said, shaking hands with William.
Not giving William a chance to make more demands, Gareth quickly left with Richard Bromley.
William didn't mind. With the security consultant title, his future actions would be more convenient.
At that moment, William's phone beeped with a message. He picked it up and saw Barney had replied, "Received, understood, will depart in an hour."
"Damn, since when has this guy become so concise? Just a 'got it' after reading the information? Doesn't he have any questions?" William cursed.
Poor Barney didn't know William was cursing him.
The Expendables had just returned to the USA and were heading to Madagascar. Barney was a bit upset, wondering if they were working for free without payment. They weren't exactly wealthy.
Luckily, William remembered to discuss the payment. He called Barney, "Hey, Barney, how much would you normally charge for a job like this?"
"Sir, our Expendables' fee is quite high. We generally don't take such jobs, but since it's a task, let's say $300,000," Barney quoted a normal price. Catching a person was too easy for them.
"$300,000, which is about 180,000 pounds. Damn, does that mean I'm losing 80,000 pounds?" William thought, a bit annoyed. He wouldn't cheat the Expendables out of their hard-earned money, but he was displeased with Gareth. Sooner or later, he would make Gareth pay him double.
In movies, the CIA's Church gave them $5 million. William had thought hiring the Expendables for a mission would cost tens of millions. Now, $300,000 didn't seem too expensive.
But William remembered that Church had offered the Expendables such a high fee because they had failed several times before hiring the Expendables.
$5 million to send the Expendables to their deaths—if it weren't for divine intervention and internal conflict on the island, the Expendables might have been wiped out. Movies have too many unrealistic elements. As long as it's enjoyable, that's enough.
"Alright, Barney, to avoid trouble, I'll use a formal contract through your agent, Thor. I don't think Thor will refuse, right, Barney?" William said.
"Yes, sir, I'll tell Thor it's a favor for a friend," Barney assured.
"Good, Barney. From now on, our relationship will be purely professional. When I have tasks for you, I'll follow mercenary rules. The only difference is, you can't refuse."
"Understood, sir," Barney replied a bit reluctantly. They were used to being free agents.
"Try to catch them alive, Barney," William instructed.
"Don't worry, sir."
"That's it, then. Goodbye, Barney. I hope to hear good news tomorrow."
"No problem, sir. Goodbye, sir."
William hung up the phone with a strange expression. Was this guy under some kind of stress? Why did he sound so weird?
William didn't know that Barney and his team were now scared of his methods.
On their flight back to the USA, they discussed how William had managed to get the shock grenades and anesthetic smoke bombs into the safe house.
The safe house was used for the first time, so it couldn't have been compromised before they arrived. The only possibility was that William had followed Yin Yang to the safe house and somehow sneaked them in without being detected. His methods were too covert and unpredictable.
The six of them discussed for a long time, realizing that if they encountered such tactics again, they might still be unable to deal with it. Since they didn't know how to defend against it, they decided it was best to follow orders.
Moreover, in the real world, most of the Expendables had families and kids. With attachments, they couldn't be as rebellious as in the movies.
They hadn't considered quitting, so working for William was just another job. As long as he paid them, and maybe offered some benefits, it was fine. At least, they'd get more accurate intelligence for their missions since William could access information they couldn't.
As William pondered Barney's obedient attitude, he saw Arthur Kane, Harry Hart, and Merlin Strong walking towards him.
Damn it, what do these three want from me?
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