Surprise?

"Wait, listen to me!"

William was kicked out of the western-style restaurant, his face a mask of despair. He had a hundred thousand dollars and wanted to splurge; the first thing he'd wanted to do was treat himself to a proper steak.

He had arrived at the restaurant and, after scouring the menu, finally ordered an expensive steak. The prices on the menu were terrifying—the kind of numbers the old William wouldn't have dared to dream of.

But he was flush with cash now, able to pay without even flinching. The waiter's service was excellent, making William want to leave a tip, but the moment he pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills, the waiter took one look, rolled his eyes, and said:

"Sorry, sir, your money is counterfeit!"

William froze. What was going on? His money was fake?

Having struck it rich only last night, William naturally didn't believe it. He had the waiter bring over a money detector, only to find that not a single bill in the stack was genuine.

William couldn't believe his eyes. He had just grabbed a random stack of cash when he left today; if these were all fakes, then the hundred thousand dollars in the suitcase must be fake as well.

He had thought he was about to make his fortune, but it was all a hollow joy. Who could have guessed that the Skull Gang's secret suitcase was filled with a hundred thousand dollars in counterfeit bills?

Surprised? Unexpected, right?

"Screw your sister!" He couldn't help but slam the money onto the ground, feeling completely unraveled.

Luckily, his steak hadn't been served yet, or he would have been washing dishes in the back. Once the manager realized he was trying to dine and dash, he offered a thin smile and had security kick him out quite politely.

Back home, William dumped all the bills from the suitcase onto the floor. He rummaged through them, staring at the pile of worthless paper, feeling like crying but having no tears left.

When he woke up this morning, he had been happily pondering how to blow that hundred thousand, but reality had slapped him hard across the face:

Stop dreaming, kid. You aren't going to get rich overnight, so just accept your fate!

Just then, William thought of the Skull Gang's main quest. The mission required him to uncover a secret, and he had previously assumed the secret was related to the suitcase—perhaps the hundred thousand dollars itself.

But now he knew the money was fake, so the Skull Gang's secret must lie elsewhere!

"Guess it's just my bad luck..." William sighed. "Athena, my main quest is already finished. What exactly is the secret of the Skull Gang?"

"I cannot tell you the answer," Athena replied. "But I can remind you: sometimes, the truth is hidden in the places you cannot see."

"Places I cannot see?" William muttered. Yesterday, he had been so blinded by the joy of the hundred thousand dollars that he hadn't thought of anything else.

Hearing Athena say this, he looked at the suitcase again. If the money inside was fake, it was likely just a disguise; the secret had to be hidden somewhere else.

He inspected the suitcase from all sides, stroking its smooth shell. Suddenly, he had a thought and rapped hard against the casing—it was hollow!

William hurriedly grabbed a hammer and pliers to dismantle the suitcase. He tore away the outer shell, and beneath the metal, he discovered a hidden compartment. Inside, he found a mysterious silver key.

"The truth is often hidden in the places you cannot see." William finally understood what Athena meant. He never expected such a secret to be stashed inside the suitcase.

He stroked the surface of the key; it felt smooth like metal. At the tip of the key was something resembling a USB connector—it was actually a flash drive.

He couldn't imagine what kind of surprises awaited him inside the secret he had worked so hard to find.

But before that, he needed a computer!

To read the data on the drive, he obviously needed a computer. With no other choice, William spent money to rent one. It was a piece of junk; not only was the keyboard unresponsive, but the screen was cracked—a truly pathetic sight.

He also knew this wasn't an ordinary flash drive. It might have a tracking program that would reveal his location the moment he plugged it in, or it could contain a virus that would monitor his movements once connected to the internet.

To solve these problems, he made a meticulous plan: he needed to find a safe place and keep the computer offline. If the enemy could track him the moment he inserted the key, he wouldn't panic—he had already mapped out an escape route and was ready to bolt at any time.

If all else failed, he could transform into Soldier: 76 to handle the crisis. That, of course, was the worst-case scenario.

Once everything was prepared, William found a coffee shop and ordered the cheapest Americano. He sipped his coffee while booting up the computer. The machine was so slow it took two minutes just to turn on.

After it booted, he immediately disabled the network and took out the silver key.

William took a deep breath and inserted the flash drive into the port. He saw a blue light flicker on the key; the data transfer had begun.

William took a sip of coffee, waiting for two or three seconds. The computer chimed, indicating the drive was connected. Just as he was about to click on the drive's storage, the screen suddenly went black!

"What the hell? Is it broken?"

He pounded on the keyboard, but the black screen didn't react. Was it true that you get what you pay for with second-hand goods? But this was a rental; it shouldn't have died that quickly, right?

Just as William was feeling puzzled, the screen flickered back to life. A familiar image appeared: a white skull in the center, with a black snake slowly crawling out of its eye socket.

The Skull Gang's emblem?

William felt something was wrong. Suddenly, the emblem began to move. It was an animation—the black snake opened its mouth, revealing sharp, venomous fangs. It looked incredibly realistic!

Then, a 30-second countdown appeared beneath the emblem, and a deathly whisper emanated from the computer speakers: "Self-destruct sequence initiated..."

"Holy crap!"

William was startled. He hadn't expected the flash drive to have a self-destruct protection program. He didn't think this was a prank, because he saw the blue light on the key suddenly turn red.

The red light began to blink faster and faster, just like an activated C4 charge!