Chapter 39: Secret Bunker

After returning to the safe house he had built, William opened a file cabinet, took out Barney and Christmas's files, and printed two new documents on his computer. He filled in their information, attached photos, and put them in envelopes. He then put on a jacket and left.

Outside, he called Christmas, arranging to meet him and Barney at a café on Baker Street. William ordered dinner at the café and had just finished when he saw Christmas and Barney walk in.

Greeting them, William invited them to sit and handed each of them a file. He called over the waiter and ordered two coffees for Barney and Christmas, then sipped his own coffee while they read through the files. After they finished reading, they set the files down and started drinking their coffee, waiting for William to speak first.

"Alright, since you've read the files, sign and stamp them, and you can leave. I'll contact you when there's a mission," William said.

Barney asked, "Mr. Devonshire, what do we do in the meantime? Where should we stay?"

"Continue doing what you were doing before. I'll only contact you when there's a mission. You'll be paid according to mercenary standards for each assignment."

William noticed Christmas seemed hesitant, so he added, "If you have any questions, ask now. Once you leave this café, you'll be secret operatives for MI6, known only to me. Even MI6 won't know your identities. This is an appointment letter from the UK Security Council and my credentials."

Christmas and Barney examined the appointment letters and credentials carefully. Once satisfied, they both felt relieved. Things weren't as bad as they feared, but the thought of being supervised was still unsettling. With no better option and leverage against them, they had to play along for now.

Christmas asked, "Mr. Devonshire, what will we need to do?"

William smiled, "We operate in the shadows, only doing covert work. You'll be tasked with what you're best at, Barney. You know what that is without me telling you."

Barney and Christmas exchanged a glance and nodded at William.

William continued, "You won't exist in official records, and you'll only earn money during missions. The safety deposit box at Buckingham Palace can only be accessed by me. It's secured with a Da Vinci Code lock, featuring an 18-line, 26-character alphanumeric code and a self-destruct mechanism. If you get exposed, it's your own fault. In that case, protect yourself, hide your identity, and pray your enemies don't find you."

Barney felt a bit frustrated, thinking about the possibility of betrayal but refrained from voicing it. He knew that if they ever became useless or a threat to William, they'd be disposed of.

Seeing they had no objections, William said, "Okay, since there are no objections, let's leave it at that. One benefit of working for me is a generous death benefit—£5 million for mission deaths, £2 million for injuries, and job placement. No one else offers such a high death benefit to mercenaries, right, Barney?"

Barney nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Devonshire. If it ever comes to that, you know who to give our benefits to."

William nodded, "Unless you specify otherwise, I'll distribute the benefits to your families."

Barney and Christmas nodded, understanding that their future would be more dangerous and thrilling. After greeting William, they left and drove away. William, still in the café, carefully scanned the café and street several times using his mental abilities. Satisfied there was no surveillance, he paid and drove home. He hadn't been home or to school in days.

First, he had to store Barney and Christmas's files at Buckingham Palace. Recently, he recalled many things his grandfather had said while sick, including an unrelated English sentence that now seemed to be the code for Henry's lockbox. He needed to verify it. If true, all the phrases his grandfather made him memorize were real, and he'd have to visit the earl's ancient castle in Oxford when the time was right.

William drove to a small building outside Buckingham Palace, got out, and rang the doorbell. An elderly man with white hair answered.

"Sir, how can I help you?" the old man asked.

William recited a poem and made a series of hand gestures on his chest. The old man smiled and said, "Welcome, Mr. Devonshire. You can call me Old Victor. It's been ten years since anyone from the Devonshire family came to the bunker. I didn't expect the new Devonshire heir to take up the family mission so young."

William inwardly complained about the so-called family mission, feeling like he was becoming an enforcer with all the responsibilities and no benefits.

The poem was a decoy. The hand gestures were the real family code. Without the gestures, Old Victor would lead the intruder to a fake basement, identical to the real one but filled with unimportant documents and dazzling jewels. The real secrets remained protected.

"Thank you, Old Victor. It's an honor to meet you. The Devonshire family is on the rise, and you'll be seeing more of me," William said.

Old Victor smiled, "Very well, child. I'll take you to the Devonshire family's dark room."

William followed Old Victor into the house, stopping at an elevator where Old Victor scanned his palm, eye, and voice, then entered a numeric code privately.

With a click, the elevator started moving. After about a minute, the doors opened to a vault door resembling a bank vault. Old Victor performed another round of security checks before the vault opened, revealing a 100-square-meter room guarded by four armed men and a middle-aged man behind an iron gate. Another bank vault door was beyond the gate.

"Mr. Devonshire, I can only take you this far. You'll need to enter the final code," Old Victor said, gesturing to a keypad in front of the iron gate.

William entered the code, and Old Victor left, wishing him well. A middle-aged white man then led William into the final vault, a basement with hundreds of small rooms, each secured with a code lock. William was led to the Devonshire family room, where he was prompted to enter another code.

After confirming the code, the middle-aged man said, "Mr. Devonshire, now you must enter your palm and eye data. No one from your family has come in ten years, and the system has been updated. You need to input your new data."

Following the man's instructions, William entered his data. The man then said, "Mr. Devonshire, once you're done here, press the prompt inside the room to call me. I'll escort you out. You cannot leave alone. Understand?"

William felt uneasy. If anyone wanted to harm him, they could easily trap him inside. He hesitated in front of the room, considering the implications.

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