"Haha, William, you're very clever. You are the only descendant of both the Winston and Devonshire families. I wouldn't let anyone harm you or your mother, Lena.
There are always some people who want to take risks. Unable to find the Devonshire family's secrets, they try to target you and Lena. I've dealt with no less than 20 such people over the years. The Winston and Devonshire families never go easy on their enemies."
Having an uncle who was the head of the world's largest assassin group could indeed guarantee his and his mother's safety. At the very least, it would make many people think twice and not dare to target them.
After hearing this, William picked up his phone and called his mother, Lena. "Hello, William, do you even remember to call your mother? I thought you'd hide somewhere in the world and only call me after you had children. Ah, you ran off after only two days at home. Do you know there are tons of things waiting for your decision at the castle? Do you even consider me your mother anymore, you scoundrel?"
William's face flushed slightly as he looked at Winston. His mother was too fierce, and he had indeed run off after only two days at home, which made him feel very embarrassed.
Winston waved his hand, looking amused and helpless as he watched William squirm.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I really don't have time to go back. Once I'm done with this busy period, I promise I'll come back and spend time with you. Mom, I love you! Don't be angry, you'll get wrinkles."
"Idiot! I won't get wrinkles! Just tell me what it is. I knew you wouldn't remember me, your mother, unless you needed something. I raised you for nothing, you ungrateful wretch, always causing trouble outside!"
"Mom, do we have a relative named Winston?" William asked.
"Why are you asking that? Where did you hear you have a relative named Winston?" Lena said.
William looked at Winston. Lena's voice was quite loud, so Winston could definitely hear what she was saying.
Winston quickly waved at William, placing a finger on his lips, signaling him not to tell Lena where he had seen him.
Although William was a bit curious, he still nodded to Winston. "Mom, I heard it from a friend of Grandpa's. He said I seem to have an uncle, with medium-length hair and a South American face. Is that true, Mom?"
"Of course, Evan Winston. He always had a scruffy face, and his medium-length hair looked like it was never washed. He spoke slowly, as if someone owed him a million pounds. Of course, I know him, but he apparently died in an accident.
Darling, have you seen Evan anywhere?
I remember I even kept his photos. Evan came to see you when you were born, but I don't know where I put them these past few years. There are some photos I just can't find."
William looked apologetically at Winston. "Never mind if you can't find them, Mom. I have to hang up. I'll come back to see you in a few days. Say hello to Tina for me. Bye, Mom."
Lena complained exasperatedly, "I knew it! Good thing Tina is here with me. Bye-bye. Come back when you're free. Be careful and watch your diet when you're out."
After hanging up, William said to Winston, "I'm sorry, Winston."
Winston said indifferently, "I knew Lena would say that. When you were little, Lena wouldn't let me hold you. She always disliked me, always thought I would take you away."
"What! Take me away?" William exclaimed in surprise.
Winston said regretfully, "Sorry, for a while, I really wanted to take you away. I can't have children, so you're the only bloodline in both our families. Your body carries the same blood as mine. But in the end, Lena chased me away. Since then, she's never allowed me near you."
"Alright, I'll believe you for now." William held the cipher cylinder in his hand. Using the coded message on it—his father's Chinese name in letters—he opened the cylinder. Inside was a slip of paper that read: "Charlotte is a ship, go find it," and a coordinate written in a riddle.
Haha, William recognized Henry's handwriting. Anyone who didn't know the full story would be completely baffled by this note. Charlotte was the only useful clue the Devonshire family had found regarding King Solomon's treasure in hundreds of years.
William pretended to put the slip of paper into his pocket, but in reality, he placed it in his storage space. There was no safer place in the world than his storage space.
It seemed Henry had found many clues but was injured before he could search for them, so he had to leave the clues to William.
William hadn't been very interested in the treasure originally, as there were no clues at all. Instead of running around like a headless chicken, it was more profitable to develop some future technologies.
But now it was different. Treasure hunting still held a lot of fun. The sense of accomplishment from finding treasure and the desire for wealth made William decide to follow Henry's instructions to find the ship named Charlotte and see what treasures or clues it held.
William didn't let Winston see the slip of paper inside the cipher cylinder, and Winston didn't ask to see it. He just smiled and said to William, "Now do you believe I'm your uncle?"
William would trust anyone Henry trusted. After all, Henry had trusted Winston ten years ago, but he still had some reservations. Who knew what changes had occurred in those ten years? So, his trust in Winston was limited.
He would see how their relationship developed in the future. "Alright, Uncle Winston, I definitely trust Henry, so I also trust you. Thank you for your protection all these years. If there's anything I can help you with, just say the word. I promise to do it."
Winston smiled and said, "I actually do need your help. I'm old, William. Ten years ago, when I was 50, I wanted to train you to be my successor. Now that I'm over 60, that idea is even clearer. I hope you can help me gradually take over the New York Continental Hotel. And I hope you can change your name to William Winston Devonshire, just like Henry. I want the Winston surname to be passed down for a long time."
After thinking about it, William felt that adding a surname wasn't a problem. He wasn't from the Great Heavenly Dynasty now, and besides, it wasn't unheard of in the Great Heavenly Dynasty for names to include the maternal surname.
"No problem, Winston. I have no objection to that. Being like Henry is also good, after all, the blood of the Winston family does flow in my veins."
Winston was very pleased after hearing this. "Excellent, William, I'm very happy. This way, the Winston family's legacy won't end with me." He then laughed heartily and pushed the box of gold coins on the table towards William. "Son, this is my first gift to you. You must have heard of the Continental Hotel gold coins, right?"
William nodded and said, "I heard about them from a former CIA agent friend of mine. I also know about the cleaners, but I don't know the specific use of these gold coins."
"I know who your friend is. Bryan Mills. He's taken quite a few assignments from us over the past decade. He's one of the few who managed to retire peacefully," Winston said.
William heard that only a few people retired peacefully and asked, "Uncle, are there very few people who retire from the Continental Hotel?"
Winston laughed heartily and said, "Of course, child. When you've been accustomed to bloody and exciting work for ten, even decades, among 100 people without stable families, 70% will return to their old profession after a period of retirement. They can't adapt to the monotonous life of retirement.
Of the remaining 30 people, 70% will run out of the money they saved within a few years because they were always big spenders as assassins, and they'll have no choice but to pick up a gun again.
Of the last 9 people, they're either hunted down by old enemies or their families fall apart, making them wish they were dead, forcing them to pick up a gun again. So, out of 1,000 assassins in the Continental Hotel, not a single one can live out the rest of their lives peacefully."
William's scalp tingled at Winston's words. It was too cruel.
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