Williams watched Felix and Robby step out of his own villa with bitter eyes. Even Sato was with them, along with a whole pack of bodyguards behind them.
"I really didn't expect you to get here this fast, or to go this far."
The United States in 1995 could hardly be called orderly, but in the financial world, everyone still tacitly followed the rules of the game. No one went so far as to throw the entire economic order into chaos.
Of course, now that Felix, Robby, and Sato had joined forces, Williams was no longer in any position to talk about rules.
He glanced into the mansion and saw several hesitant figures standing inside.
Good. His bodyguards had been bought off, not taken out.
So Felix still didn't dare make too big a scene.
"If we'd come any later, you probably would've finished the deal already." Felix spread his hands.
In fact, just like Williams, the moment he left the conference room, he had taken what remained of his potion and rushed to New York with Robby to have it tested.
He also took the chance to get himself examined.
The cancer cells that had been spreading through his body were gone, and even the lesions on his pancreas had improved significantly.
Even someone with no medical background could tell this was the kind of phenomenon that could change the world.
So the moment he got the results, he came straight here to lie in wait. He even spent a huge sum bribing Williams's bodyguards, all to keep things from getting too ugly and drawing certain people's attention.
"Make your choice already." Robby had no interest in wasting more time, even though he still hadn't taken his own potion.
"Do we tie you up and dump you into the Atlantic, or do you cooperate like a good boy?"
"Cooperate."
Williams gave in without a second word, even though they had not discussed a single term yet.
After all, money only matters if you stay alive long enough to spend it.
But his readiness to surrender only stirred Felix and Robby's greed.
The two of them raised their brows and exchanged an amused look.
"Very good." Clearly pleased, Felix grabbed Williams by the arm and led him into the mansion as though they were old friends.
Once the bodyguards were pushed outside to stand watch, only the four of them were left in the living room.
"Come to think of it, I never expected you to get involved either," Williams said as he sat across from Felix and Robby and looked at Sato on the left. "Where are Joshua and Lady Diana? Aren't they coming to claim a share too?"
"You really want them here?" Felix shot back.
"Besides, Sato came to help us deal with that troublesome Tver Fawley."
"Oh?" Williams was immediately intrigued. "You found out who he is?"
"No..." Felix shook his head.
"Then why are you still..."
"But Sato found a legend. A legend from three hundred years ago."
Even Felix still found it hard to believe, so he gestured for Sato to explain it himself.
"Four hundred years ago, a hundred years before Japan's Edo period began, there was a group of samurai in the Tokugawa shogunate who answered only to the Shogun.
"They could hide in the darkness without being noticed, and with the wooden clubs in their hands, they could defeat thousands upon thousands of enemies.
"But strangely enough, around 1690, those samurai stopped appearing in the records left behind by the Tokugawa family.
"Of course, historians think they were just one of the ghost stories passed down during the Edo period. The story is so fragmented that it is not even worth studying.
"But don't you think that Fawley looks a lot like the samurai described in those stories?"
Felix crossed one leg over the other. Even though all of this was still speculation, he spoke with complete confidence.
"And think about Europe. Starting around 1690, a lot of the legends about witches, vampires, and things like that either disappeared outright or changed into something that no longer resembled ordinary humans.
"So it is perfectly reasonable to assume that after vanishing for three hundred years, they have appeared in this world once again."
"So Sato gets a share just because he dug up a few legends?"
Williams stared at the excited Felix in speechless disbelief. If not for the crowd of bodyguards outside, he would have wanted to throw this old man babbling about legends straight out the door.
Who still believes in legends these days?
"Who cares!" Felix shot him an irritated glare. "Sato also found a school called Mahoutokoro in the Japanese government's secret archives. It might have something to do with Tver Fawley!"
"And then what? We go knocking on their door based on some legend?" Williams looked at Felix, then at the helpless Sato and Robby, utterly bewildered.
"Whatever the reason, since Tver Fawley chose to hide his identity, had Ian manage the face mask business for him, and now has us handling the potion business, there must be some reason he can't come into the light!"
At last, Felix had said something Williams could actually understand.
"So we use that as leverage and squeeze out as much profit for ourselves as possible?" Williams said, suddenly enlightened.
Felix was not satisfied with just that. "Then we keep investigating Mahoutokoro in secret, find out why Fawley can't reveal his identity, or maybe uncover more extraordinary people like him!"
"But right now, what matters is getting more potions first, isn't it?" Williams raised the issue he cared about most.
Compared with the profits he could get from the potions, a figure as legendary as Tver was only something he would consider after he had enough capital and confidence.
"Exactly." Felix nodded in satisfaction and finally stopped rambling.
After all, whatever came next had little to do with Williams anymore...
Smiling, he raised three fingers. "Thirty percent. I only want thirty percent."
Williams froze for a moment, not because Felix was asking too much, but because he was asking for too little.
Wait. "I"?
"Then what about Mr. Robby?"
"I'm taking thirty percent too, of course." Robby spread his hands as if it were only natural.
Sato gave the two of them a rather surprised look, but still decided to stick to what he had prepared.
"I only want twenty percent," he said haltingly.
In reality, out of that twenty percent, only five percent would actually end up in his hands...
"Then that leaves me with only twenty percent?!" Williams shot to his feet in fury.
The profits from this potion were easy enough to imagine, but no similar medicine had ever existed before, and no one could guarantee it would really take the world by storm.
Now he was left with only twenty percent, far less than half his bottom line. After costs and the extra expenses that would inevitably come with distribution, was he supposed to make nothing at all?
"You should be grateful you're still getting twenty percent." Felix looked at the assistant and bodyguard coming in through the door, the smile on his face growing even wider.
"It's all been arranged. Tomorrow, in Mr. Williams's name, you will be having lunch with Ian Russell in Manhattan," his assistant said flatly.
The bodyguard beside him curled his lips into a smile, his right hand slowly moving to his waist...
The moment Williams saw the black pistol, his eyes went wide.
"Wait, I accept. No, no, no, I only want ten percent..."
Seeing that Felix remained completely unmoved, Williams was on the verge of tears.
"I'll give all of it to you, all right? You don't want trouble either, do you? Professor Fawley definitely wouldn't want to see his wishes ignored by you, right?"
Felix leaned back on the sofa. Ever since being diagnosed with cancer, this was the first time he had felt so relaxed and pleased.
"We really didn't want any trouble at first. Unfortunately, your little secretary talked too fast, so we had no choice but to swallow your entire share."
"As for Fawley, once we're the only option he has, he won't care whether his own opinion is being respected or not."
"Liz?"
Williams instantly realized who had betrayed him.
"No, no, no, I still have plenty of wealth that Liz knows nothing about..."
"That's too hot to handle, my friend." Robby gestured to his bodyguard, one of the hitmen and cleaners he had specifically hired to deal with problems like this.
"Do it."
Williams spun around in panic, only to see a pitch-black gun barrel and the dazzling flash that burst from it in an instant.
"Bang."