Making Trouble

Dr. White's adventurous spirit had brought him a great deal of trouble.

Inside William Stryker's base, his freedom had been restricted.

Though this was an experience he had never had before, he did not find it the least bit novel.

Right now, he was rather annoyed.

As he calculated his profits, he wondered whether he should exchange for some superpower and give William Stryker a brutal lesson.

Polaris's magnetic control ability required 7,000 points. Old Xia only had a little over two hundred, nowhere near enough to copy it.

But he could take Polaris's ability directly. At worst, he could return it after using it; the debt amount would not change at all. After all, she belonged to Sean, inside and out, until she had repaid the 1.7 billion with interest.

Sean was still mulling it over when the man in question, William Stryker, arrived.

"Hello, Dr. White."

Stryker seemed very polite. Of course, it was fake politeness.

Sean did not think the old bastard had any good intentions.

"Hello, Dr. Stryker."

"I've heard of you. You have a very interesting mutant ability."

William Stryker wore a faint smile, but Sean always felt that he was actually grinning viciously.

"Mutant ability? No, no, no~"

Sean immediately rejected Stryker's definition of his power as a mutant ability.

He took out the Black Ledger and placed it on the table.

"This isn't a mutant ability. If you insist, it could be called a superpower, I suppose? But it's just a ledger. My ability comes from it."

Stryker's expression did not change. He glanced at the Black Ledger and asked blandly, "May I take a look?"

Huh? No one had ever tried that before.

Sean nodded, signaling for Stryker to help himself.

He also wanted to know what would happen if someone else picked up the Black Ledger.

As for whether the Black Ledger could be taken from him...

He was not worried in the slightest. The ledger seemed bound to his soul. Flipping through it was merely a habitual gesture; in reality, he did not need to move at all and could operate it directly with his mind.

Stryker picked up the Black Ledger Sean had placed on the table.

The instant he lifted it, Sean received a notification from the Black Ledger:

"William Stryker has picked up the Black Ledger~"

???

Sean's head filled with question marks. Why did that feel like narration?

The ledger could even notify him who was holding it now. Interesting.

Tsk, tsk, tsk~ Other than deducting source essence, this was the first time Sean had received a message from the ledger.

"Nothing special about it. I can't see any of its contents at all."

After flipping through it a few times, Stryker spoke calmly.

"Only I can see it."

"No one else can use it?"

"For now, that's how it is."

"What would happen if you lost it?"

"I haven't tried."

"How about trying?"

... Sean cursed inwardly. This guy really was after his ledger.

"Enmmmm..."

Sean's hesitation piqued William Stryker's interest. Why was he hesitating?

William Stryker stared at Sean with great interest.

"Then... shall we try?"

Sean's reaction surprised Stryker somewhat. This kid was interesting.

Just as he was about to say something, a sudden, piercing pain tore through his chest, as though his breastbone had snapped. An unbearable wave of nausea erupted along with the pain, followed by difficulty breathing.

William Stryker had suffered a severe myocardial infarction accompanied by ventricular failure.

"Dr. Stryker? Dr. Stryker? Are you all right?"

Sean hurriedly rose, intending to help William Stryker up. The concern on his face was utterly sincere.

No one could possibly tell that he was the one who had gifted the man this illness.

Myocardial infarction plus ventricular failure... a very cheap illness. One kilogram was enough.

But before he could approach William Stryker, the soldiers outside rushed in, pointed their guns at Sean, and ordered him to step back.

Sean was extremely cooperative and immediately retreated.

He muttered, "Dr. Stryker, I'm a doctor. How about I help treat you?"

Clutching his chest, Stryker glared at Sean as if to say, "You're dead!"

Oh? He still dared threaten me?

"Dr. Stryker... do you really not need my treatment?"

Sean sat down and casually picked up the Black Ledger, flipping through it.

The two soldiers who had entered had no medical skills. All they could do was radio for a doctor.

But Stryker's illness had struck rapidly and severely. He was struggling to breathe, and his face had already turned bluish purple.

Sean estimated that Stryker would lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation in a few seconds.

Even if he was saved afterward, brain damage would be unavoidable.

"You don't seem to have much time," Sean continued.

The soldiers could no longer stand it. Not only did they aim their guns at Sean, one of them even worked the bolt...

Was that chambering a round? Sean did not know much about guns, but he could clearly sense the threat behind it.

He promptly shut up.

He merely watched Stryker with keen interest.

Their positions seemed to have reversed. Earlier, Stryker had looked at Sean with this very same gaze.

Stryker was a doctor of genetics, so he knew quite a bit about medicine. If his condition was not treated promptly, he would almost certainly die.

No matter how much hatred he felt, no one could refuse when faced with the choice between life and death.

Sean soon received Stryker's agreement.

Because Stryker's name had appeared in the ledger.

Only sixty-nine kilograms—slightly less than Sean had expected.

Sean directly removed Stryker's myocardial infarction.

The contract was established. William Stryker had successfully become a new debtor.

Sean's lips curled up. While the old bastard had only just taken two breaths and had not yet gotten up, Sean added another loan to him.

Cerebral palsy.

Sean had bought this from a child before.

These illnesses sitting idle in the ledger could be very useful at times, just like now. A case of cerebral palsy immediately caused Stryker's brain to lose control over his muscles.

Never mind standing up—he could barely even speak.

There were quite a few such illnesses in the Black Ledger. Most had come from children; because of their low weight, ordinary families could grit their teeth and afford them.

Stryker's mind was perfectly clear. He knew Sean White had to be behind his condition. He only knew that ending up in White's Black Ledger would bring severe consequences, but he had not made any transaction with him, so why had he been affected too?!

More than ten seconds later, the doctor arrived.

After examining Stryker, he was somewhat confused.

He could not figure out what was wrong with Stryker. A cerebral infarction? It did not seem like one!

Stryker was in agony, and the doctor was bewildered.

But Sean was feeling great right now~

Serves you right for locking me up! For trying to frame me as a mutant! For setting your sights on my ledger!

I can turn you into a cripple in minutes!

Stryker was carried away on a stretcher, but Sean remained locked in the room with only a table and chairs.

It seemed no different from before.

The soldiers guarding outside were armed with live ammunition. Forcing his way out would definitely be the stupidest option.

In the end, he still had to work on William Stryker.

After thinking it over, Sean replaced the cerebral palsy with high-level paraplegia. He had to let the man speak, or Sean would be completely useless.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Sean was escorted to Stryker's hospital room.

However, the place did not look like a hospital room at all. It looked more like an operating room.

A slender woman stood beside Stryker's bed, with Asian features. She wore a fitted business suit that was particularly pleasing to the eye. Her expression, though, was icy cold. Deathstrike, without a doubt.

"Sean White!" Stryker said hatefully.

"Dr. Stryker~"

Sean greeted him with a nod and a bow.

"Restore me, or die!"

Stryker gritted his teeth.

Uh!~

At this point, even cerebral palsy probably would not work. The muzzles of the soldiers' guns behind him were already aimed at him.

Stryker had obviously given them instructions. If he lost consciousness or anything like that happened, they were to kill Sean.

"Actually, we have a better option." Sean's expression did not change as he continued, "I've noticed that you're interested in mutants, Doctor. I can perform certain special operations on mutants."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Some things can only be known by you alone."

After thinking it over, Stryker had the soldiers leave the room. He was not afraid Sean would pull anything; if anything happened to him, Sean would not escape death.

"And this one?" Sean glanced at Deathstrike.

"It's fine. Go on."

Fine. If you think it's appropriate to say this in front of Deathstrike, that's your call.

"Depriving and transferring mutants' mutant abilities."

After saying that, Sean even raised his eyebrows.

This ability really was absurd. William Stryker's Weapon X had been at it for so many years and had produced only a few results. But with Sean's help, what would Weapon X amount to? He could produce an army!

"Perhaps we truly can cooperate..."

Sean: Your female secretary is seriously impressive!

Stryker: She's mine. Don't even think about it!

Identity and status secured~ Next, what should I stuff into my own pockets~

Two updates today, and there'll be another chapter tonight. Don't forget to vote and support Old Tree!

Also, the book's status has been updated.