Marvel: The Super Player

The six senses failing to sound an alarm merely indicated that their threat level to Locke was zero. It meant that no matter how much they jumped around or how powerful they were, they had no way to harm a single hair on Locke's body.

But it did not indicate anything else.

Especially at a time like this.

He had just stated yesterday that he intended to sue Great Britain, and today, people from Great Britain had already arrived?

Their speed was quite impressive.

They were keeping up with Parisian speed.

"Mr. Broughton!"

The black car door opened, and a man dressed in a fine suit, who clearly looked like an intelligence agent, walked toward Locke with a smile.

"Can we talk?"

"No."

"..."

Locke looked at George, who had already walked out of the apartment building not far away, and looked directly at the man.

"If you have anything to say, go talk to my lawyer. Don't come looking for me."

George walked over at this moment as well.

Locke shielded Gwen behind him.

George, however, placed Locke behind his own back, staring at the man in the black suit with his right hand resting on his waist. Not far away, the wailing sounds of police sirens were approaching from a distance.

Seeing George's vigilant gaze, the man gave a short laugh, told him not to be nervous, and extracted his identification from his breast pocket.

The military attaché of the British Consulate General in New York.

Or rather...

"MI6!"

George directly exposed the true identity of this man. "What is your business here?"

The man made his expression look completely harmless. "Don't misunderstand, Captain Stacy. No one wanted something like this to happen, but since it already has, I believe what we can do is make amends rather than expand this misunderstanding. This is also the reason I came over this time. There is no need to bring this matter to court."

Although American long arm jurisdiction was like absolute garbage to certain powerful nations.

But...

Could London, the sunset kingdom of Great Britain, still be considered a powerful nation?

The answer was quite obvious.

Most importantly, it was still that same old saying. London's face had already been beaten until it was swollen by the Peerless Assassin. No matter what, they couldn't just rush over to hand their face to a high school student to strike, could they?

"Mr. Broughton..."

"Talk to my lawyer!"

Locke looked at the man who was attempting to bypass his attorney to bribe him directly, and cut him off once again.

"If apologies were useful, why would we need lawyers?"

With that said.

Locke and George exchanged a glance. Then, waiting for Gwen to get into the car, Locke entered the vehicle as well. Subsequently, under the gaze of George and the man, the car accelerated with a whoosh, driving off toward Midtown High School.

Inside the car.

Gwen was somewhat surprised. "They really had the thick skin to actually come look for you."

After an attempted kidnapping was exposed, having the nerve to run in front of the target of the kidnapping, acting all high and mighty, and saying you cannot sue us, we can negotiate?

Holy hell.

Gwen was quite shocked and shook her head. "If this matter involved the CIA, I'm afraid even the CIA wouldn't have such a thick skin."

Compared to MI6, it was very obvious that Gwen now felt even the CIA, which was described so terribly by the media, looked incredibly elegant and refined.

After all, without contact, one has no right to speak.

Gwen could be considered to have had contact with MI6; they had wanted to kidnap her.

Meanwhile, the CIA, Mr. Nobody, always had a smile on his face and spoke very politely, acting entirely like a gentleman.

Sure enough...

The true orthodoxy of Great Britain was in the United States.

Locke smiled at Gwen's rhetorical question, pulled out his phone, and dialed Attorney Laun's number to inform him that the British Consulate General had already grown impatient.

Attorney Laun had also originally assumed that London would remain aloof for at least two or three days, perhaps using official channels to apply pressure first.

He hadn't expected that just after Locke made his move, London seemed ready to flip the chessboard entirely and kneel down to call him father.

But this was a good thing.

Arriving so quickly meant that the opposing party's anxiety was extremely high, which meant they could make the extortion bar ring out incredibly loudly.

And indeed.

The minister who had flown specifically from London this time, attempting to silence this matter, was completely dumbfounded after hearing Attorney Laun state a compensation demand of 130 million.

But...

Ask for an exorbitant price, and let the counter-offer bring it down to earth.

Since they indicated they could pay compensation, then how much compensation to pay was entirely open to negotiation. As long as they didn't enter a courtroom, everything was very easy to discuss.

From the very beginning, Locke was only after the money.

Struggling to bring MI5 and MI6 to court—even if he won the lawsuit, what would it accomplish? At most, it would leave the reputation of MI5 and MI6 completely obliterated, while Locke wouldn't gain a single practical benefit.

Locke figured he wanted the money, and he would take their dignity as well.

Gwen frowned and said, "You are completely indulging in a fantasy."

Locke laughed out loud. "Is that so? Perhaps."

In reality...

It was exactly as Gwen had said.

"No, that's impossible!"

By late November, during the third round of negotiations, the representative from London was extremely furious.

"If we pay compensation without a non-disclosure agreement being signed, the entire world will know that we bowed our heads."

What kind of joke was this?

Their private settlement was specifically for the purpose of keeping a fig leaf.

If they couldn't even obtain a non-disclosure agreement, then wouldn't their settlement be a complete waste of time? When the time came, the money would be paid on one end, and the next second the whole world would be shouting that London paid out damages.

How would other people view London then?

How would London's taxpayers view London?

Locke, who was sitting next to Attorney Laun, listened to the furious words from the opposite side, nodded, and looked at the London representative.

"You can choose not to accept it, then we'll just see each other in court."

The date for the opening day of the trial had already been confirmed.

It was exactly five days later, on December 5th.

Locke looked at the London representative expressionless.

"If you threaten us, it's fine if you don't show up either. I only need to let the trial proceed and have the evidence on my end brought out to be reviewed page by page. You can claim they are fake, I have no objection."

The London representative opened his mouth.

Not going to court?

Was that even possible?

But...

The London representative shook his head. "A settlement sum of 130 million—we can pay it. But without a non-disclosure agreement, that is impossible."

Locke let out a light laugh.

Right at that moment.

Attorney Laun held back Locke, who was preparing to pat his trousers and leave just like the previous two times, putting on a display of going to court to seek justice. He then looked at the several people from London opposite them, cleared his throat, and proposed a fairly reasonable compromise.

A compensation of 130 million could not be accepted without a non-disclosure agreement.

But...

What amount of compensation could accept a setting without a non-disclosure agreement?

One hundred million?

A few days later.

When the New York media eagerly anticipated the event, watching Attorney Laun walk into the courthouse on December 5th, they had originally assumed this would be a lawsuit where the defense bench remained empty.

The result?

Less than half an hour after Attorney Laun walked into the courthouse, this lawsuit targeting MI5 and MI6 was dropped by Attorney Laun right there in court.

The reason given was an out-of-court settlement.

What the fuck?

An out-of-court settlement?

Settled with whom, and why did no one tell us?

Numerous media reporters erupted into a frenzy.

Especially upon seeing Attorney Laun walking out of the courthouse, they swarmed forward with a whoosh, completely surrounding him.

"Attorney Laun, what exactly happened?"

"Did someone threaten you?"

"An out-of-court settlement—is this true?"

"Attorney Laun?"

Facing the long lenses and microphones of the reporters, Attorney Laun, who was working hard to squeeze his way toward his car, finally let out a sigh after trying two or three times. He then looked at the surrounding reporters and signaled for everyone to quiet down.

"One question at a time."

Attorney Laun looked as though he was forced by circumstance to select one person from the very front row. "You'll be first."

The male reporter in the very front row instantly grew excited.

"Attorney Laun, may I ask what the reason for dropping this lawsuit was?"

"As you have all seen, an out-of-court settlement was reached."

"Attorney Laun, was it with MI6 and MI5?"

"This... cannot be said."

"Why?"

"It is part of the out-of-court settlement."

"Then can you speak on the amount?"

"No."

"..."

After answering several questions in succession, Attorney Laun smiled. "However, I can say this much: the opposing party showed a great deal of sincerity in coming to reach an out-of-court settlement with my client. That is all, goodbye."

With that said.

Attorney Laun truly opened his car door this time, got into the vehicle, and left the courthouse entrance behind.

The numerous reporters watched the car disappear into the distance, standing in place for a full five seconds before snapping back to reality. With a whoosh, they hurriedly rushed back to their respective newspaper offices.

By noon, the digital editions of the news reports had already emerged.

Heavy News! Locke Broughton Reaches Out-of-Court Settlement with MI6!

An Out-of-Court Settlement Sum as High as One Hundred Million!

The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire!

...

"I quite like this third headline."

Locke rubbed his chin, looking at that third headline. Although he hadn't read the content yet, without a doubt, he felt this headline was the most accurate description of him.

Self-made—is that not exactly talking about me?

Helen, who was very close to her due date but hadn't shown signs of labor yet, was also scrolling through her phone, looking at the news on the internet.

"The settlement amount is truly one hundred million?"

Although it wasn't very polite for a mother-in-law to inquire about how much money her son-in-law had.

But they were already very familiar with each other.

And...

Gwen, who was sitting on the sofa nearby, shook her head. "How could it be a full one hundred million? The Laun Law Firm takes a portion as a commission, and then there are taxes to be paid. What actually lands in hand is roughly around eighty million dollars."

Calculating it out, Gwen felt it was somewhat magical.

Because after this settlement sum arrived in the account, Locke's liquid funds would be close to around one hundred million. It was exactly as Locke had said; who says you can't make money from filing lawsuits?

Helen frowned. "Eighty million? Didn't they say..."

Gwen giggled. "Mom, what we demanded was British pounds."

A single British pound could be exchanged for 1.8 US dollars.

When calculated, in reality, the Laun Law Firm had also made an absolute killing.

But who could complain when they relied on professional skills to earn their living?

US dollars?

British pounds.

Alright then.

Helen smiled and nodded.

The next second.

Helen lowered her head and called out that things were bad.

***

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