Gareth hurriedly said to William, "Four hours ago, after we received news online that the Americans were hunting down the Transformers, my first thought was to conduct a self-check to avoid a leak like theirs.
But I never expected that this self-check would actually uncover a problem. The person in charge of transporting classified data to the Oxford University laboratory has gone missing."
"Wait a minute," William said incredulously, "You guys are England's most secretive research department, and you still use an external laboratory?"
"Not everyone has as much money as you do," Gareth shrugged helplessly. "This is a newly established project without any achievements yet, so its funding isn't as ample as you might think.
Besides, England isn't going to spend hundreds of millions or even billions of pounds to build a redundant massive laboratory."
William curled his lips. "Since it's just some missing data, is there really a need to be this nervous?"
"If only it were that simple," Gareth said grimly. "That person in charge is Eric Wayne, a subordinate I brought over from the Intelligence Agency to work on the secret research project. So, not only does he have access to the research data, but he can also enter the underground research base."
"A trusted subordinate?" William looked at Gareth in surprise, then smirked with a hint of schadenfreude. "Buddy, you're in trouble."
Gareth was at a loss for words. It wasn't until William fired a shot at a red grouse that he finally snapped out of it. "No matter what happens to me in the end, that's a problem for later, and I have no intention of shirking responsibility. But right now, the most important thing is to find Eric and confirm whether he defected or was secretly captured by another intelligence agency.
If he defected, what exactly did he steal? Who is he working for? Does he have any accomplices? And where is he now?"
William instructed the autonomous balance scooter to retrieve the fallen red grouse, then reloaded his gun. Looking at Gareth, who had his shotgun slung over his shoulder without even closing the barrel, showing no interest in hunting, William said, "Whether he defected or was kidnapped, a few hours have already passed. That guy Eric is probably no longer in England."
As soon as he said this, Sunday's report came through his earpiece, prompting William to add, "At the very least, I can confirm he's no longer in London or Oxford."
It was no secret to certain people that William could monitor the surroundings of London and Oxford Castle.
Because of this, Gareth trusted William's words. However, he hesitated for a while before finally saying, "My only concern now is that bastard Eric might have taken advantage of his two-day leave to secretly leave England and strike a deal with other intelligence brokers."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Gareth shook his head. "Even I have, at times, exchanged intelligence with other factions when necessary."
Instead of being alarmed, William was actually pleased to hear this. If that was the case, perhaps he could manipulate the situation to his advantage.
So, he covered his ear and said, "Sunday, you heard him. Help Gareth find this Mr. Eric."
"Searching now, sir. Given that the target is a seasoned intelligence officer, this may take some time."
"Alright. Where's White Ghost?" William thought for a moment and said, "Have him stand by on the Kun-style fighter jet. Once you find Eric, pass the intel directly to White Ghost, and tell him to report to me after completing the mission."
"Sir, White Ghost is currently in France," Sunday paused before explaining, "If you recall Baron Daniel Kabore from a few years ago, you should also remember his wife, Lady Anna. Over a year ago, after White Ghost took Anna as his apprentice, he has frequently traveled to Paris."
Baroness? Wasn't she that beauty from Cobra?
A few years back, this woman had tried to get close to William through Lena and Abigail. After being warned off by William, she had now turned her attention to White Ghost.
This also reminded William of the nanoweapon that could devour metal.
Seeing that Gareth had no interest in hunting, William, who wanted to ask Sunday about the nanoweapon, feigned goodwill and said to Gareth, "Forget it. You're clearly not in the mood for hunting. I'll invite you another time after this matter is settled."
"Well…" Gareth obviously wasn't in the mood to hunt, but leaving just like that worried him—he didn't want to upset William.
"Alright, alright, just go," William snapped his fingers, and the balance scooter that had brought Gareth lit up and automatically drove toward him. "If I get any updates, I'll let you know. You do the same for me."
"Alright," Gareth nodded and, without hesitation, stepped onto the balance scooter. "Buddy, don't ignore my calls again," he said, nodding to William before heading back to the castle alone.
As soon as Gareth left, William asked Sunday, "Is that baroness still mingling with Macallan Weapons Company?"
"Apologies, sir. You never instructed me to monitor Lady Anna. However, after news of your entrapment on Mars spread, White Ghost has frequently taken on jobs from Macallan over the past year."
"Is that so?" William frowned. "Perfect. This mission will be a good chance to test whether White Ghost is still on my side. Keep an eye on him, Sunday. Report any unusual activity to me."
"Understood, sir."
"Infiltrate Macallan's servers and check if they're developing a nanoweapon that can devour metal."
After receiving Sunday's response, William no longer concerned himself with the traitor or the nanoweapon, focusing instead on finding red grouse in the forest.
After hunting more than ten grouse, he unknowingly arrived at the cliff where the Thunderbirds were settled.
Since he was already here, he decided to check on the magical house-elves that had arrived the previous night.
These magical house-elves had come from the forests of the Scottish Highlands, and Sunday had been monitoring them the entire way.
As expected, the domesticated house-elves of England were clearly a branch of these magical elves.
Otherwise, these little creatures—who had never been to England—wouldn't have been able to find their domesticated counterparts so easily, nor directly locate Oxford Castle.
Without any resistance, they had followed the battle robots sent by Sunday and settled down at Thunderbird Cliff.
As William arrived, the magical house-elves, alerted by Sunday, emerged from the cliffside one by one, standing in two tense rows in front of him.
"Bell?"
"Yes, yes, sir," the elf named Bell, who had seen William on the magical planet, bowed nervously. "M-M-Miss Christine said that since I know you, I should lead my companions to serve you."
"Relax," William smiled and nodded. "Since you're now part of the Devonshire family, after completing your tasks, feel free to make any requests through Sunday. As long as they're reasonable, I will do my best to fulfill them."
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