Chapter 160: This Is the Life of a Protagonist

Ben Gates calmly said, "Riley, we can only pray that William Devonshire heard that loud noise and comes back out of curiosity. Otherwise, we're really in danger. Riley, start gathering some wood; we need a fire."

Riley, feeling dejected, replied, "Alright, as you say. God bless that William guy and hope he comes back."

As the two of them searched for wood scraps, they encouraged each other. Riley, likely unaccustomed to danger, seemed terrified and muttered gloomily as he worked, "If we survive this, I'll never go treasure hunting again. This is nothing like what the movies and books describe. We haven't even found anything yet and we're already close to dying.

It looks like I'm not cut out for treasure hunting. I'd be better off finding a stable job in Silicon Valley. Ben, what do you plan to do if we get rescued? Why not come with me to Silicon Valley? We could be partners."

Ben Gates shook his head resolutely, "I'm going to stop Ian and his crew. Those guys tried to kill us, and I'm not letting them get away with it. Don't you want revenge?"

Riley looked hesitantly at Ben Gates, who now had a grim expression. He hadn't expected Ben to become so dark after their ordeal.

Not far from the Sherlock, William was waiting for Ian and Ben Gates to turn on each other. If Ian could take out Ben Gates, it would be perfect, saving him the trouble. Hearing the loud noise, William quickly opened the car door and climbed onto the roof, looking towards the Sherlock, where he saw a plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

"Hopefully, they're all dead," William muttered, and upon seeing the smoke, he immediately got down, grabbed his binoculars, and ran up a snowbank blocking the snowmobile.

After a brief look, he saw Riley and Ben Gates collecting wood from a distance. This annoyed William greatly. Was this the protagonist's aura? Not even an explosion could kill them.

Fine, if the explosion didn't kill them, let's see how they get off this snowy, desolate island. William cursed a few times, turned back to the snowmobile, and ignored the stranded Ben Gates and Riley.

It took two days to return to Barrow on the rented boat, and then he made his way to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., thinking he would wait for Ian's crew to show up.

But neither he nor Ian expected that Ben Gates might really be blessed by the protagonist's fortune. After sending Ian's group away, the boat's crew decided to return to the island after hearing the explosion, fearing that Ian and his crew might have done something illegal that could implicate them.

They had been cautious and asked no questions while Ian's group was around, pretending to know nothing. But once Ian's group left, they immediately returned to the island to check it out.

Their investigation led to the rescue of Ben Gates and Riley, but it cost them dearly—$20,000 in reward money to be taken back to Barrow.

By the time William's private jet took off, Ben Gates and Riley were on their way to the airport. They were lucky enough to catch a flight to Alaska within two hours.

It took them an extra day, but they also made it to Washington, D.C. by then. By this time, Ben Gates was thoroughly enraged at Ian's crew. After discussing with Riley, they decided to report to the Secret Service.

Unfortunately, they were kicked out shortly after.

Riley complained to Ben Gates, "I told you it wouldn't work. Think about how many reports the Secret Service gets every day. We don't have any evidence, so why would they believe us? If I hadn't been smart, we wouldn't have made it out. Ben, what do we do now?"

Ben Gates looked dejectedly at the Secret Service office. Before being kicked out, he had been solely focused on getting Ian's crew arrested, but the Secret Service didn't believe him and almost had him committed.

Since that didn't work, they had to come up with another plan. "Let's try the National Archives. Maybe we can convince them."

Riley weakly responded, "Alright, it's worth a try," though he believed it would be futile.

Returning to William, who had arrived a day earlier and assumed he only needed to deal with Ian's crew, he relaxed and accessed the records of the England Safety Council to gather detailed information on Ian and Shaw's families.

With his cover as a power company executive, he found a plausible reason to deceive Shaw's wife into giving him Shaw's phone number.

He then texted Shaw, saying his daughter was sick and asking him to call back.

Sure enough, within a minute, Shaw called back. William smiled and said, "Hello, good morning, Shaw. Is it convenient to talk?"

Hearing William's voice, Shaw nervously replied, "Mr. Devonshire, how did you get my number?"

William knew Shaw was alone since he directly addressed him by his last name. "Heh, as long as you're English, it's not hard for me to find your information. Your wife gave me your number. She said you've been away for many days, and they miss you. She asked me to tell you to call home when you can. Shaw, if I were you, I wouldn't leave my family to do dangerous things. Should I help you pass a message of reassurance to your wife?"

Shaw felt a chill down his spine and quickly replied, "No need, sir. Thank you for the reminder. I'll call them myself. Why did you contact me?"

"Shaw, we're friends. I told you about your family's situation; don't you have anything to share with your friend?"

After hesitating for a moment, Shaw said, "We are at Rount Farm outside Pittsburgh. Ian recruited a retired security guard from the archives. We plan to enter the National Archives through the sewers. We know the exact route and patrol schedule, and as long as we finish in ten minutes, there won't be any problems."

"Good, Shaw. Let me know when you arrive in Washington. As a friend, I want to welcome you."

"Understood, Mr. Devonshire."

"I think after this, you might want to retire and spend time with your family. Don't you think, Shaw?"

Cursing inwardly, Shaw knew he had no choice and reluctantly said, "Of course, sir. I will do as you say."

"That's the spirit. Listening to a friend's advice can be beneficial. Keep in touch, Shaw."

"Understood, sir. I will call you with updates. Goodbye, sir."

"Goodbye, Shaw."

After hanging up, William called his uncle, Winston, the head of the Continental Hotel in New York, to request help. He needed someone ready to act once Ian's crew showed up, either to follow them and take them out or, ideally, to destroy the Declaration of Independence during a fight.

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