Chapter 46: Asking for a New Identity
"What kind of payment do you want?" Gary asked. "Don't tell me you're expecting £100,000 from me. Our department is very poor."
"It's £200,000. I'm not doing it for free. If you're not going to pay, then you can handle it yourselves," William retorted.
"When did I say £200,000? To catch one guy? For £200,000, I could hire a whole mercenary group myself," Gary scoffed.
"It's £200,000, not a penny less than £100,000. No one works for free these days, not even for the King of England. Besides, the money isn't coming out of your pocket. Just give me the standard mission payment."
William was determined to get paid. Otherwise, these guys would take him for granted and expect him to help for free in the future. Who doesn't like free labor?
Gary said dejectedly, "Fine. £100,000. Not a penny more."
£100,000 was better than nothing. William then added, "I also need a formal, official letter granting me mission authorization and special operational rights. It should all be spelled out. I won't do this without that authorization. After it's done, someone might try to use this to cause me trouble."
Gary looked at William strangely. "Doesn't your family already have a formal document with special operational rights? Didn't Henry give it to you?"
"That's a document from decades ago, and I haven't even officially inherited the title yet. Who knows if the current government would even recognize it if something went wrong? I don't want to create trouble for myself. I need a new, authorized document."
"Alright, I'll get you a formal authorized document," Gary agreed, secretly pleased.
Gary was surprisingly happy to agree. By formally accepting a document from the committee, William was effectively accepting their authority, which meant he was moving closer to their circle. This was a good thing for the committee. As long as the benefits were right, William could be mobilized. The more they cooperated, the more they would trust each other, and eventually, William would become one of them.
"The formal document can be ready for you by tonight," Gary said.
William was essentially on his own, so of course, he wanted to find reliable allies. If a good backer presented itself, he would be a fool not to take it.
With special operational rights, William could handle some of his own 'private' business without fear of punishment. Having an official title was very important; it gave him a legitimate reason for his actions, otherwise, his authority could be revoked at any time.
Without this benefit, William had no desire to do things for the English government for free. After all, his soul wasn't English.
"Also," William said.
"There's more?" Gary said, dissatisfied.
"Of course. Although my current identity is known to some people, I can't go around using an MI6 identity every time. If the media exposed that, I'd never have a normal life again," William complained.
"Okay, that is indeed a problem. What do you want? Just say it," Gary replied.
William thought for a moment. "Give me the title of 'Special Operations Consultant' for the English Security Council. That's not too much to ask. Even if the identity becomes public, it won't be a problem. On the surface, it's just a consultant role, but it will make things more convenient for me."
This time, Gary agreed without hesitation. "That's fine. I'll get it for you tonight. Now, how about that pizza?"
Richard knew Gary wanted to make a quick exit and nodded. "Alright, Gary. I haven't had pizza from that place in a long time."
"Well then, thank you for your help, William. We'll be in touch. Goodbye," Richard said, shaking William's hand before leaving.
Gary didn't give William a chance to make another request. He waved goodbye and hurried out with Richard Bromhead.
William didn't mind. Having a semi-official government identity would be very convenient.
Just then, his phone buzzed with a text message. He picked it up and saw Barney's reply: "Received. Understood. Departing in one hour."
"Damn, is this guy really that simple? He understood everything just from the info I sent? He doesn't have a single question?" William muttered.
Poor Barney had no idea William was cursing him.
The Expendables had just returned to the United States, and now they had to go to Madagascar. William hadn't even mentioned payment. *Are we working for free now?* Barney thought grimly. They weren't exactly rolling in cash.
Fortunately, William remembered the employment fee. He called Barney and asked, "Hey, Barney, what's your commission for a job like this?"
"Chief, we're the Expendables, so payment is part of the job. We don't usually take jobs this simple, but since it's a mission from you, our standard rate is $300,000." Barney quoted a normal price; for them, capturing one person was child's play.
*$300,000 is about £180,000. So I'll have to pay £80,000 out of my own pocket,* William calculated. He had no intention of short-changing the Expendables, but he was annoyed with Gary. *I'll get that money back from Gary sooner or later.*
He remembered from the movie that Church from the CIA had given them $5 million. He had thought the Expendables' commissions would be in the tens of millions. Now, $300,000 didn't seem expensive at all.
However, William came to his senses. He realized that Church had offered such a high commission because the CIA had already tried and failed several times. That's why they had to hire the Expendables.
Five million dollars was a suicide mission. If it hadn't been for a stroke of luck and the two factions on the island turning on each other, the Expendables might have all been wiped out. There were too many unrealistic things in the movie. Anyway, it was just a popcorn flick, as long as it was fun.
"Okay, Barney. To keep things clean, I'll send a formal employment contract through your agent, Tool. I don't think Tool will refuse, will he?" William said.
"Yes, sir. I'll tell Tool we're working for a friend," Barney promised.
"Very good, Barney. From now on, our relationship is one of employment. When I have a mission for you, I'll contact you according to the standard rules of the mercenary world. The only difference is, you are not allowed to refuse."
"Understood, sir," Barney answered, a little weakly. That was true; they used to be their own bosses.
"Try to catch him alive, Barney," William ordered.
"Don't worry, sir."
"That's all. Goodbye, Barney. I hope to hear good news tomorrow."
"No problem, sir. Goodbye."
William hung up the phone with a strange look. *Was that guy on something? Why did he sound so subdued?*
In fact, William didn't know that Barney and his crew were intimidated by his methods.
On the plane back to America, they had discussed how William managed to get a stun bomb and an anesthetic gas bomb into their safe house.
It was the first time they had ever used that safe house, so it couldn't have been compromised beforehand. The only possibility was that after William followed Yin Yang and the others there, he had used some unknown method to get inside completely undetected. The technique was too stealthy and impossible to defend against.
The six of them debated for a long time and concluded that they would have no defense against such a method if they encountered it again because they had no idea how it was done. In that case, it was better to be obedient.
Moreover, this was the real world. Most of the members of the Expendables had families and children. With people to care about, they couldn't be as reckless as their movie counterparts.
Anyway, they had no plans to quit, so it didn't really matter who they worked for. As long as William paid them, they might even get some extra benefits from him in the future. At the very least, the intelligence for their missions would be more accurate, since William clearly had access to information they couldn't get.
William didn't understand why Barney was so compliant. As he pondered this, he saw Arthur, Harry Hart, and Merlin walking towards him.
*Damn, what do these three want with me?*
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