Chapter 787 Negotiations Are Doomed Before It Begins (Part 1)

The room with the dark red carpet was spacious, but there was not much lighting, and the dark oak floor absorbed all the light that was not strong enough. The only source of light is from the fireplace on the right side of the room. Two high-backed soft chairs were placed slantingly, and a tall man sat on one of them. General Hale noticed him at a glance. His sense of presence was so strong, as if he was the center of the room. Even though he was well-dressed, General Hale could still feel the explosive muscle strength under his clothes.

The warm breeze and the slight crackle of the burning wood were blowing in the face, and the man was not affected by the presence of Gideon Malik and General Hale who entered the room, but continued to talk to the woman sitting in another ottoman. His expression was relaxed and happy, his long black curly hair and obsidian-like eyes reflected the warm light of the fireplace, and his cheerful voice changed a little because of the empty room. And the person sitting on the soft chair opposite chuckled from time to time because of the man's topic. General Hale felt that the woman's voice was familiar, but the high back of the chair blocked her view, and she could only see a white arm.

It was the arm of a young woman.

Gideon Malik stopped General Hale's approach and motioned her to wait here.

General Hale pulled out his arms, straightened his spine, and stood in a comfortable posture. She began to speculate on the man's identity. Combining the flags and badges she saw in the hall before, she could tell that the golden eagle badge represented this man, or the forces behind this man. Definitely not S.H.I.E.L.D., that's ridiculous, that design looks more like an ancient coat of arms than a modern day abbreviation.

She couldn't imagine what kind of force could possess power armor and super soldiers, two technologies that the US government dreamed of, but if this man really possessed such terrifying power, then it would not be unexpected for a general to stand aside and wait. At least it is much closer to the people than the Goldman Sachs family, the Lehman family, the Lazard family, the Warburg family, the Stern family and other chaebols. Don't look at her as a general of the United States, but those chaebols are not the ones she can meet whenever she wants to. Those people are the sponsors of the US government.

There was the sound of a door being opened out of the reach of the fire, and General Hale was surprised to find that Gideon Malik's daughter was coming out with a steaming tray of exquisite ceramic mugs. She originally thought the man was talking to Stephanie. Stephanie smiled and handed one of the glasses to the man, and the man in the other ottoman also had a glass. Gideon Malik received the signal like an electric shock, and he smiled and motioned General Hale to step forward.

The man didn't sit up, but smiled and nodded to General Hale.

"Mom?" The person sitting in the other high-back chair stood up in surprise, "Why are you here?"

"Ruby?" General Hale was also quite surprised, but she quickly realized it. With startling speed, she gripped her daughter's wrist and pulled her closer to her. Ruby screamed, and the glass full of mulled wine fell on the carpet, and the lemon slices, cloves and cinnamon rolls polluted the beautiful carpet with the scalding red wine, while she frantically shook her red-hot palms.

"What does that mean?" She cast a stern look at Malik's father, then the man in the soft chair. If her subordinates had encountered this look, their knees might have been weak, but the man just smiled and took a sip of mulled wine without responding.

"Mom, this is my friend!" Ruby defended dissatisfiedly. She did regard Salomon as a friend. After all, it was not Salomon who brought her the experience she had never had before. As I said before, Ruby was the product of artificial insemination by General Hale. After Dr. Whitehall's eugenics project temporarily came to an end, the newly born Ruby grew up in the Hydra school. If Dr. Whitehall hadn't died, Ruby, now entering puberty, would also be the mother of the eugenics program, artificially inseminated to give birth to the next stage of the product. However, the power of Alexander Pierce was destroyed, the property under the name of Dr. Whitehall was taken away by the Malik family, the researchers were merged into the Immortal City, and Ruby's artificial insemination plan was completely abolished.

This girl has learned everything there is to know, has done all the training that has to be done, but has never seen the outside world. The door to her room was a standard explosion-proof door, with a composite alloy plate at least five centimeters thick and a combination lock. Salomon used magic to saw through the steel plate, and extended an invitation to Ruby who was in shock, and gave him a gift.

A retractable hunting knife, a double-barreled pistol.

Ruby accepted the gift without hesitation.

Salomon first took Ruby to visit the Hydra security personnel who had been killed by him. After confirming that Ruby has no aversion to blood and death, he took Ruby around New York City, traveled around the world through the portal, and finally arrived at the room in the castle. Ruby is completely crazy. Her favorite activity is skydiving without an umbrella. She has done it three times, like a child in an amusement park begging her parents to ride a roller coaster.

She longs for her next adventure, if only with Salomon.

"Shut up!" General Hale blushed with anger, "I thought this was a negotiation, but I didn't expect your methods to be so low!"

"Why don't you listen to what I have to say?" Salomon first waved his hand to remove the stains on the carpet, and then stretched out his hand, inviting General Hale to sit in the soft chair that Ruby sat on before. General Hale accepted hesitantly, but she told her daughter to stay by her side obediently and not to go anywhere. Although Ruby was not happy, she obeyed General Hale's order. She stood aside rubbing her wrists, her eyes full of longing. Stephanie took General Hale's coat and hung it on the side cloakroom. Salomon told Gideon Malik, "We need some time, I can't stay in Europe for long."

"As you wish, my lord." Gideon Malik nodded and left the room with his daughter. When he walked out of the room, his steps were as brisk as a young man's. General Hale's slowness in seeing the old man before was all a fake. Gideon Malik had fifty more years to live, after gut cleansing, joint replacements, and stem cell repair in the Immortal City. Stephanie winked at Salomon quietly before leaving the room, and after receiving a slight nod from Salomon, she left the room with a smile.

"I'm sure you've met Constantine. He's my guard." Salomon said with a polite smile that couldn't be offensive. "I'm sorry I don't have time to introduce him to you. I'll do it next time if I have time. I think we can have a good talk, General Hale. Would you like a glass of mulled wine?"

"I'm a little worried."

"It's nothing to worry about, Father, I've never seen anyone the monarch couldn't convince." Stephanie took a sip of mulled wine slowly. Salomon once taught her how to make mulled wine, which is said to be the favorite recipe of the Greeks. "Like the Malik family, like me." She said proudly, taking pride in the fact that the Malik family became the spoils of the monarch, just like the animal head hanging on a decorative board, it is something that can be taken out to show the glory of the owner. Gideon Malik doesn't have much opinion on becoming a complete vassal, because Stephanie told him that Salomon has a space fleet capable of space combat, and it is Salomon's reward that the Malik family can take the flight of the Immortal City.

"Constantine." Stephanie said to the man named Constantine, who used to be the boy named Zero, and now uses time dilation and time gems to accelerate growth and exercise, "I will leave the rest to you."

"I will, Lady Malik, I am an extension of the will of the Sovereign."

Ask for a ticket!