Chapter 37: Recruited into the Suicide Squad

William had tied Christmas and Gunnar to the far right of the group. Christmas was furthest out, followed by Gunnar, then Yin Yang, Road, Caesar, and Barney.

William shot at the tree trunk, flicking his hand a few seconds before firing. Last night, he had mentally practiced the throwing knife technique of Bullseye from Marvel. Since he received the peak techniques of Bullseye in his mind and used Mage Hand to practice throwing knives all night, he managed to make it look fairly competent today. He directly threw tranquilizer darts at Christmas and Gunnar's necks. However, as a novice, William used too little of the drug. With no moonlight and the cover of the forest, the Suicide Squad members didn't notice the tranquilizer darts on Christmas and Gunnar's necks.

The squad members, who had been in the city of London earlier and weren't wearing bulletproof vests, thought the bullets had passed through Christmas and Gunnar's bodies to hit the tree trunk. They were all startled by William's sudden shot, and seeing their teammates go motionless, instinctively thought they had been shot through the heart and killed instantly.

Gunnar, groggy, shook his head and said, "Guys, have we all gone to hell? Well, at least I'm still with you in hell."

"Shut up, you're the one who's gone to hell, Gunnar. It's great you're still alive. Christmas, I thought we were all meeting God," Caesar scolded and added, "God, bless you. Thank you for your mercy and keeping us alive."

"You should be thanking me, Caesar."

William approached Barney, retrieved a small recorder from his body, and played back Barney's discussion about the church. Pleased, he nodded at Barney, saying, "This recorder is pretty good. Clear recording, Barney. You spoke well, quick and loud. Seems like I've got something on you now, Barney. I like you, haha."

William put away the recorder and walked over to Christmas, cutting his ropes with a knife. Then he retrieved the group's files from the car and approached Gunnar, saying, "Guys, I have all your detailed information. No one can escape my watch. Gunnar, this is yours," he said, throwing a file at Gunnar's feet and moving on to Yin Yang. "This is yours."

"This is yours, Road."

"This is yours, Caesar."

"This is yours, Barney. I didn't expect you to have three such beautiful daughters. Barney, look at them, wow, real angels. You might become a world-class father-in-law in ten years," he said, tossing the file at Barney's feet.

"Any questions, ask Christmas, Barney. But you better not tell anyone else. Don't want to cause trouble for your team, right, Barney?" William said, looking Barney in the eyes.

"Of course, I guarantee only we and Christmas will know," Barney quickly assured.

"Good, then you owe me six lives, right, buddy?" William said to Barney.

Barney thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, sir. Although we had a bit of an unpleasant time, it ended well. I owe you six lives. You can count on us when needed."

"Good. Barney, I'll find your contact if needed, that tattoo shop owner, what's his name? Oh right, Thor. I hear his tattoo and throwing knife skills are good. I might get a tattoo from him someday, but I'll think about what to get first. So, Barney, goodbye."

William glanced at Christmas, still struggling with the ropes, and noticed his nearly bald head, finding it somewhat amusingly green.

Kindly, he said to Christmas, "Hey, buddy, there's something I think you should know, but I'm afraid you might not take it well."

Christmas, confused, replied, "What could I not take? I've already died once."

William nodded at Christmas's bald head, "Alright, buddy. According to my information, your girlfriend might be cheating on you. Sorry, Christmas."

Caesar loudly exclaimed, "I told you, guys! I knew Christmas's girlfriend wasn't reliable. I told Christmas at the bar last time, but he didn't believe me."

Barney quickly interrupted, "Shut up, Caesar. Now is not the time to talk about this."

Seeing Christmas free from the tree, William addressed the Suicide Squad members, "Alright, everyone, I'm leaving. As for how you'll get back to London, I suggest running. Consider it exercise. Your stuff is in this bag. Goodbye, Suicide Squad."

With that, William tossed a bag from the car onto the ground and drove back to London.

After William left, Christmas found a knife to untie Gunnar, and they each freed the rest of the team.

As the six of them rubbed their numb hands and feet, gathered their weapons, and looked at each other in silence, Caesar finally broke, "Damn it, how long has it been since we were this embarrassed? I can't remember the last time we were taken down without firing a shot. Who was that guy? I swear I never want to see him again."

Barney, frustrated, reached for a cigar but found his pocket empty, "That bastard took my Zippo lighter. Damn it, my daughter gave me that."

Yin Yang angrily said, "Guys, is this the time to talk about lighters? What are we going to do now?"

Gunnar cursed, "Who the hell was that guy? If I find out, I'll shoot him. That bastard hit my trachea with the tranquilizer," he said, touching his bleeding neck.

Road grumbled, "We should thank him for his lack of knowledge on blood vessels and tranquilizer dosage. Otherwise, you and Christmas wouldn't have woken up so quickly, and he could have extracted all our secrets. In that situation, even if he wanted to know my wife's measurements, I'd have to tell him. I didn't want to see Yin Yang and Caesar get killed in front of me."

He waved his file at the group, "Guys, I don't know what's in your files, but mine has all my past detailed, even my ear issues."

Caesar, not wanting to hear about Road's ear problem for the 800th time, quickly changed the subject, "Mine too. That guy knew how many girlfriends I had in my youth and even knew about the time I robbed a neighborhood thug after leaving the military. He even wrote about my son knocking out two teeth at school. What kind of detailed nonsense is this?"

They all looked at Christmas, knowing that the guy was trying to make contact with him but ended up capturing everyone.

Barney spoke up, "Alright, I'll tell you what I can, but don't pry. You know the rules."

Caesar complained, "So we just let this go? We've never been humiliated like this, tied up like pigs and toyed with."

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