Chapter 232: Dividing the Spoils!
The Reckoning
Shortly after the residual energy in the sky disappeared, Stan Darloff perceived the battle results via his telepathy. When he learned Luke was the victor, Jack Harvey was first ecstatic, then immediately frowned. Luke winning was both a good thing and a bad thing.
Without hesitation, the three went straight toward the cave, but they were blocked by the Hummingbirds overhead.
A dozen or so birds rested on the treetops, their eyes fixed on the ground below—it was surveillance, and a threat.
Jack Harvey's face was extremely ugly; he pointed at the Hummingbirds and cursed Luke as shameless. Stan Darloff and Maeve also looked displeased. For this operation, the FBI sacrificed thirty elite agents, only for things to turn out this way. Stan Darloff wanted to use his telekinesis to destroy the Hummingbirds, but Maeve shook her head seriously. Seeing this, he could only restrain himself and wait on a stone. Time quickly passed, and soon an hour was gone, when a bird flew down, and Luke's voice came from its mouth,
"You can come over now. I'm at the cave entrance."
After speaking, it spread its wings and flew off toward the northwest.
The three exchanged looks, suppressing their anger, and followed.
After traversing the damp forest, half an hour later, the three arrived behind the waterfall. Seeing Luke leaning against a stone, yawning, Jack Harvey roared,
"Boy, what do you mean? I'm warning you, don't think about taking all the spoils. You must give me an explanation about the Serpent Spirit Society, or this won't be over."
Luke yawned, pulled out a notebook, and tossed it over,
"This is Andrew White's diary. All the important intelligence is inside. Read it yourself."
Jack Harvey caught the diary, then heard Luke say, "There are a lot of gold, silver, and jewels in the cave. I took half. The rest is inside; send your own people to retrieve it."
"The conditions I agreed to are complete. The cooperation ends here. Goodbye, everyone."
"Wait a moment!"
Jack Harvey spoke in a deep voice, "You read the diary, right?"
Luke nodded. "That's right."
"How much do you know about Joel Nash?"
Luke sneered, "Director Harvey, next time you look for a collaborator, it's best to be clear about the facts, and don't fabricate things out of thin air. There are many fools in the world, but I'm not one of them, understood?"
Jack Harvey's heart jumped, but his expression remained unchanged. "What do you mean? I don't understand."
Luke grinned, his mockery fully evident. Without another word, he turned and left. The old man looked volatile and tyrannical, but was actually full of malice—the saying 'old but not dead is a monster' described this type perfectly.
Stan Darloff and Maeve looked at the Director, asking if they should stop Luke. Jack Harvey remained silent, staring intently at Luke's retreating figure until he disappeared into the depths of the forest, before finally turning around.
"Contact headquarters. Send three helicopters over."
"Understood." Maeve answered, then asked uncertainly, "What about Luke Shaw..."
"Ignore him."
The Final Payment
The Green Forest Plan had many suspicious points. Luke didn't know how many high-level officials were involved, but he was certain of one thing: Jack Harvey had lied, using his power as FBI Director to tell a colossal lie, deceiving everyone, perhaps even himself.
"This old man is completely mad."
Luke shook his head laughably. After returning to the town, he took Emily and Zatanna with him. In a hotel somewhere in Keystone City, the three, having eaten their fill, leaned back on the sofa, enjoying rare downtime. Luke took out his checkbook, wrote down six hundred thousand (600,000) and placed it in front of Zatanna.
"Six hundred thousand US dollars, not a penny less."
The girl picked up the check and kissed it hard. "Luke Shaw, I'm starting to really like you."
Luke wrote another check and handed it to Emily. When she saw the number on it, Emily was shocked.
"Six million? No, I can't take your money, I... I..." As she spoke, her face flushed. Zatanna felt a little jealous. The same mission, the same effort, yet Emily got six million and she only got six hundred thousand. The difference was too huge.
"This isn't my money; it's your rightful share."
"Rightful?"
Luke picked up his teacup and took a sip. "There's a Sun God Pyramid beneath the waterfall, which was the Serpent Spirit Society's lair. Besides skeletons, snakeskins, and corpses, there was a lot of gold and treasure. It works out to at least three hundred million. I took half, and the rest is being divided among everyone."
"Of your six million, four million is your deserved share, and the extra two million belongs to Roy. Try to get it to his family as a form of compensation."
Hearing this, Emily stopped refusing and carefully put the check away. She was now the President of the FBI Metahuman Association, and Roy was a core member and her staunch supporter.
"What about my share?" Zatanna complained.
"Didn't I just give it to you?"
"Not that. The other share..." Zatanna said angrily. "Didn't you say everyone gets a share? I put in work, nearly lost my life! Amy gets four million, and I only get six hundred thousand? That's totally unfair."
Luke said matter-of-factly, "You were hired by me. Your payment is naturally based on commission, not a share of the spoils."
"Why? That's not how it works."
Luke spread his hands. "Rules are rules. Why did you accept my deposit!"
Zatanna sighed. She let out an angry huff, grabbed her jacket, and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment."
Luke called out to her. "I need your help with something."
"I'm busy!"
"I'll pay."
"Ten million, not a word less."
"One hundred thousand!"
"Five million!"
"One hundred thousand."
"One million!"
"I'm only offering one hundred thousand. If you don't help, I'll go find Augusto. He'll definitely agree."
Zatanna's face was a picture of conflict. After internally cursing herself for having no backbone, she flopped down onto the sofa. "Fine. What is it?"
Luke clapped his hands. The door opened, and Adam, in his human form, walked in, holding a book and a crystal vial filled with purplish-red liquid.
At the first sight of the crystal vial, Zatanna leaped up, terrified, "Demon Blood! Damn it! Are you crazy? This is not something humans should touch."
Luke's brow twitched slightly, but he spoke in an unchanged tone, "How do you know the vial contains demon blood?"
"Any magician with a bit of skill knows demon blood. It's common knowledge, okay?"
Luke continued, "What is this thing used for?"
"Too many uses."
Zatanna walked up to the vial and carefully examined it. "Demons are the origin of magic, and also its dark side. Many forbidden spells related to Hell require demon blood as a catalyst. Besides being a catalyst, it represents magic itself. You can use demon blood to summon magical creatures to fight for you, though few magicians do that, as it's too wasteful." She then sniffed, lamenting, "Such concentrated magic power. It's at least Mid-level Demon blood. High-level isn't impossible. Where did you get this much blood?"
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