"Phones and portable computers—you're not going to restrict me from those two sectors, are you?" William asked.
"Of course not."
Considering the UK market was filled mostly with foreign brands—aside from a few overpriced luxury phones that didn't interest the average consumer—Richard was more relieved than anything. "But aren't you entering the mobile industry a bit late? Patent issues alone could severely limit your development."
"That's my problem," William replied, uninterested in arguing. He'd already had the lawyers at Master & Star begin filing patents for the tablet-style smartphones he'd conceptualized five or six years ago.
As for anything he hadn't thought of? Cross-licensing would do. Just the automated production line alone would crush most phone brands on price.
And for a product that could be mass-exported and bring in foreign revenue, no government would object.
He had Sunday record his ideas and forward them to Abigail. Then William turned to Richard with a grin. "Don't want to test out the power of that magic ring on your finger?"
"Can I?"
At his gleeful tone, Freddy and Fisher only bared their teeth in protest—until flames suddenly erupted on their bodies, silencing them instantly.
They could only watch as the excited Richard, following William's instructions, fired two bursts of Holy Light at them.
Watching the demon dogs' burned and flayed bodies disintegrate under the purifying light, Richard's excitement was tempered by a sudden worry—could there be many demons secretly hiding across the UK?
He thought of vampires and werewolves from a few years back and hesitated. "Your family all lives in London and Oxford. I assume you've already cleaned out those areas. But what about the rest of England?"
"That ring on your hand is the symbol of the Holy Light Knights—an order I created with one purpose: to stop the invasion of dark creatures.
So, if you don't object, the English branch of the Holy Light Knights is officially established as of this moment."
"'English branch'? So there are other countries involved?" Richard asked, his political instincts flaring. "You mean there are foreign members too?"
"Fighting demons isn't just our problem—it's a global one," William said with a shrug. "Even if we purge England clean, what about the rest of the world?
I have no interest in turning England into a target for every demon that gets kicked out elsewhere. So forming international alliances is inevitable. So far, the U.S. has three members, and the rest are from the Church of Light's Penitents."
Richard thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. This isn't something we can handle alone. So, who do you want us to recruit from?"
"That's up to you and the top brass of the English branch. I'll provide the Holy Light magic gear—and demon intelligence."
The real purpose behind founding the order was to shift attention away from himself. If every demon focused solely on him, he'd be in trouble.
As for authority—please. Anyone who saw how England's wizards treated him knew power in the supernatural world came from strength.
And the Holy Light wasn't even as deadly to humans as the curses used by English wizards.
He could train a legion of people and still not be vulnerable—especially with his sentinel armor that could absorb magical energy.
Plus, as the sole provider of Holy Light magic gear and the only one who knew how to cultivate it, no one could ignore his position as founder.
Not that he cared much about administrative duties, but he could certainly influence who got in.
"I suggest you start by talking to the Ministry of Magic. Then have a word with King Philip. The nobility and wizarding communities are already stakeholders—they'll be far more accepting. As for commoners, I'll pick from Kingsman."
Richard immediately understood—recruiting from those three groups would ensure the entire order leaned naturally toward William.
The wizards already had no leverage over William. Giving them a new role would just pull more of them into his orbit.
The nobility? William already had more influence than King Philip's entire family.
As for Kingsman—they were entirely under his control.
But Richard had no choice but to accept. Unlike his own term-limited position as Prime Minister, the Holy Light Knights could last indefinitely. Maybe if he played his cards right, he'd even get a state funeral someday.
"I'll speak with King Philip this afternoon," Richard said without hesitation. Then he frowned. "But how should I explain my visit to your estate?"
Obviously, they couldn't disclose anything about the Holy Light Knights—that would cause unnecessary chaos. William thought for a moment and said, "That's easy. With Dinosaur Island set to open in a little over two months, it's time we discussed our partnership on that project."
"So soon?" Richard asked, surprised. He had only seen videos of the Dilophosaurus. "Besides that one, have you cloned any other dinosaurs?"
William chuckled to himself. Why bother cloning when he could just capture them from a magical planet? He could even bring in a full-grown T. rex—or Kong, if Laura kept bugging him about it.
But the real issue was that if the dinosaurs weren't clones, it would be hard to cover the technical gaps.
"They've been ready for a while," William deflected. "The cloning program has been running in secret since I returned from Mars.
The current dinosaurs are second-generation—naturally bred. If we weren't waiting for the island's infrastructure to finish, the park would've opened long ago."
"You—you—you…" Richard had already expected William's biotech to be advanced, but this still left him speechless.
Worried, he warned, "Just don't use it to develop biological weapons. Stick with your super mechs."
If he hadn't already seen a ten-meter-tall anti-Transformer mech, Richard might have encouraged bio-weapons research.
But now? With something even more dangerous and unpredictable than a mech on the table, Richard wanted no part of it.
Just introducing invasive species from other continents caused massive problems. Now imagine genetically modified dinosaurs. Just the thought made his skin crawl.
Land-based ones might be manageable. But if marine dinosaurs were released? Humanity wouldn't have any effective countermeasures.
William hesitated—he was still considering bringing in that gorilla Laura kept talking about.
"God, even I, a layman, can see how unpredictable and dangerous bioengineering is. You mean to tell me you can't?" Richard set down his wine and stared at William. "You've got so many safer research paths. Why choose the most extreme one?"
Then it hit him.
William was already unimaginably wealthy. No one could rival his personal strength. The only thing left for someone like him to pursue… was immortality.
Especially since William had mentioned it years ago—and the reason he went to Mars in the first place was the discovery of alien corpses.
Realizing this, the seventy-something Richard asked with a tremble in his voice,
"You're… researching immortality?"
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