Though William's tone was calm, every Kingsman member instinctively straightened their posture. The lab assistant under his gaze immediately shouted, "Y-Yes, sir!"
"William, wait," Richard spoke up again just before the assistant could press the button. "If you need test subjects, you can use our own people. There's no need to contribute to foreigners."
Ross, who had just been enjoying the show, gritted his teeth at that. But this was London—no matter how powerful he was, he wouldn't openly oppose Richard here.
William turned to Richard. "Who understands the super soldier serum better—you or me?"
"Uh…" Richard was momentarily speechless. Then William, without any politeness, continued, "This is my territory. So keep quiet.
Harry Hart, if anyone interrupts again, throw them out."
Harry glanced at Richard's group, then silently raised his radio and, amplifying the volume deliberately, called for a squad of guards.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Richard, waiting to see what he would do.
But from how Richard had avoided issuing any direct orders earlier, it was clear to all that he had no real leverage over William.
The assistant, now with a hand over the injection button, didn't hesitate for another second and pressed it without delay.
Everyone could only watch as the green-glowing serum slowly entered Blonsky's neck.
As soon as it began flowing into his body, a faint green aura spread across Blonsky's skin. His emaciated, hunched body gradually began returning to normal.
Even his deformed spine began straightening, pulling his entire frame upward in height.
However, that also caused his bones to crackle and pop loudly, prompting Blonsky to scream in pain.
Watching the rapidly rising indicators on the monitors, William shouted impatiently, "Shut up, Blonsky." Then, to the assistant, "Give him an IV drip—replenish his energy."
Despite the bulging veins and intense pain, Blonsky stopped shouting the moment William barked. Gritting his teeth, he endured in silence.
Thankfully, the bone restructuring only lasted about a minute. After growing a few inches taller, the pain gave way to a soothing warmth that spread throughout his body like a hot spring.
Blonsky let out a relaxed groan.
"Goddammit, Blonsky—shut it! I said shut it! You deaf?"
"S-Sorry, sir," Blonsky apologized, somewhat embarrassed. "It just feels too good—like a mountain's been lifted from my chest. Even the air tastes sweet."
"The air's sweet?"
"Yes, sir. It doesn't smell rotten anymore. It's like I've come back to life."
"That's good." William nodded, then turned to the med team. "He's your responsibility now. Run a full-body scan and give me the report. Then get back to work."
The assistants nodded excitedly. "Understood, sir."
William walked over to the still-IV-connected Blonsky. "Looks like you're not dying after all. I've got other messes to clean up."
Blonsky followed William's gaze toward Richard and his entourage, then nodded gratefully. "Thank you, sir."
William smiled. "Get better quickly. We'll need your help against the Decepticons. Later, buddy."
"Yes, sir," Blonsky said with determination. "You're right—our world is far from peaceful."
William gave him a nod. If this guy later got his hands on Hulk's blood, he'd become even more powerful.
Hands in the pockets of his white lab coat, William strolled toward Richard's group.
Ross, seeing that Blonsky had fully returned to human form, stiffened and said seriously to both William and Richard, "I request to take Blonsky back to the U.S. immediately."
"Hah! In your dreams."
Before Richard could reply, William cut in mockingly, "Go ahead and try if you think you can pull it off."
Then he turned to Richard and the dozen or so top British officials behind him. "He's your problem now. I don't care how you negotiate with the Americans—just give me the test report."
"Really?"
William glanced at the older man in uniform who'd spoken and smiled. "I know more about the experiment than you. But when it comes to dealing with people? That's your specialty, right?"
"Haha, too right!" The mood visibly lightened as even those previously frustrated with William began to soften. Richard nodded with a smile. "You go rest. When there's time, I'll talk to you more about the super soldier program."
"Super soldiers?" William lowered his eyes in thought and replied, "If you want two-meter-five giants, just give me funding. I can produce a batch in a month."
"Good God, are you serious?"
Everyone gasped. Only Richard, calm and calculating, waited for the murmurs to settle before asking, "Are there serious side effects?"
"Of course," William said bluntly. "The serum data we have is incomplete—barely even a prototype.
Ask General Ross—hasn't Blonsky frequently shown uncontrollable urges for destruction?"
Everyone turned to Ross. His face hardened as he considered how to respond. But the seasoned politicians in the room could all read the hesitation in his eyes.
Ignoring whatever Ross was about to say, Richard turned to William and asked, "Is there a way to fix it? Or if we give you more data, could you reverse-engineer a solution?"
"Reverse-engineer?" William crossed his arms and pretended to ponder. "If I could get samples of mature serums—like from Captain America or Hulk—it might be possible.
But the problem is always the same. Human nature is too complicated. The serum amplifies whatever's buried deepest in the subject's heart.
A good person becomes even better. A bad person gets worse.
Just look at Captain America. He wasn't as powerful as people think. Only Hulk has real potential—but once that big guy transforms, he becomes a mindless brute.
So instead of wasting time on this, I'd rather continue developing my combat suits."
At the mention of power suits, everyone was instantly reminded of the battle in Egypt a month ago—the brutal clash with the Decepticons, William's Anti-Decepticon Armor that tore through the Fallen, and the Mark III exo-suit transformed from the Sentinel armor.
Just as emotions ran high, Richard said quietly, "But you're not planning to share the suit tech with us, are you?"
"Heh… That's my last line of defense."
With that one sentence, everyone looked around and silently dismissed the idea of forcing William to hand over the technology.
He'd made it clear—this was his life insurance. Anyone who tried to submit such a proposal might not live to see it reach the desk.
They had no choice but to refocus on the super soldier program.
Captain America was out of reach, but Hulk... that was a different story.
This time, Ross said nothing at all. He simply turned and walked away.
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