The morning sun cast long streaks of light across the floor.
Jessica Jones woke up first.
Traces of last night's frenzy still lingered on her naked body; the muscle soreness and extreme mental relaxation formed a peculiar balance.
She turned her head, looking at the man still sound asleep beside her.
Gone was his usual shrewd, calculating businessman persona.
In his sleep, William Rodriguez's facial features were unexpectedly soft.
He even looked somewhat harmless.
Jessica pouted.
Harmless?
Did that word have anything to do with this guy?
She sat up silently, picked up the bath towel scattered on the floor, and wrapped it around herself.
Walking to the window, she fumbled on the windowsill for a slightly bent cigarette but didn't light it, just held it in her mouth.
A rustling sound came from behind her; William had also woken up.
"Good morning."
His voice was hoarse from sleep, and he rubbed his lower back.
Jessica didn't turn around.
She just snorted through her nose.
How did this guy keep getting stronger?
Before, she could easily disarm this kid, but now it took hundreds of rounds of battle.
William sat up, stretching unreservedly, revealing a back and chest covered in scratch marks.
"I'll probably have to stay here for a while; the office and bedroom on the island have become open-air viewing platforms."
"Most of the compensation from S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably go towards filling this hole."
"One hundred fifty million, and it's not enough for you to fix a house?"
Jessica finally turned around, a hint of teasing in her eyes.
"Is your island made of gold?"
"It wasn't before, but it will be in the future."
William's eyes changed.
It was the clarity after a hangover, the absolute rationality during a sage's time, and the focus of an ambitious man planning a blueprint.
He threw off the covers, walked to the wine cabinet, poured himself a glass of Water, and drank it in one gulp.
Last night's madness was an outlet, a celebration.
And now, the party was over; it was time for serious business.
Over a hundred million in start-up capital, a devastated private island, and a group of employees with various abilities.
How to play this hand to win was the only thing he needed to consider next.
Jessica watched him.
Suddenly, she felt that familiar, annoying yet irresistibly attractive scoundrel aura return to this man.
"I'm leaving."
She took the cigarette out of her mouth, threw it in the trash, and quickly put on her tattered leather jacket and jeans.
"Not staying for breakfast?"
"I'm afraid you'll charge by the hour."
Jessica walked to the door, her hand on the doorknob, and looked back at him.
"Next team-building event, give me advance notice. Also, remember to transfer that five hundred thousand for emotional distress to my account."
The door closed.
William was once again alone in the room.
He also walked to the window, overlooking the city below, which looked like matchboxes.
In his mind, his island was being redrawn little by little.
William took out his phone and said, "contract, I need an architect. Not the best, but the most suitable."
"Received, searching for the target based on your requirements..."
"Search criteria: master of architecture, structural engineering expert, capable of understanding and implementing surreal concepts, high confidentiality level, strong need for money..."
"Search complete."
"Recommended target: Lei Ling."
A string of detailed information instantly flooded William's mind.
Lei Ling, 28 years old, Chinese-American, Dr. of Architecture and Structural Engineering from MIT.
She was once the chief designer of a top international design firm, known for her bold, avant-garde, and even crazy design concepts.
Three years ago, due to an overly radical "floating city" design proposal, she was regarded as a madwoman by the industry.
Coupled with the bankruptcy of the project's investor, she herself incurred massive debts, falling from the clouds to the bottom.
"Strong need for money... perfect."
William's lips curved into an arc.
He liked dealing with smart people, and he especially liked dealing with smart people who needed money... Two days later, in a private room of an unassuming cafe in Manhattan.
William met Lei Ling.
She looked more capable and more haggard than in her profile picture.
Dressed in a well-tailored black business suit, she wore frameless glasses on her nose, and her eyes behind the lenses were sharp yet weary.
She pushed a thick folder across the table to William.
"Mr. Rodriguez, this is the basic survey data for North Brother Island that you sent me through 'special channels,' along with three preliminary concept proposals I've created based on your vague requirements."
Her voice was cool and detached, with a business-like tone, as if life had smoothed out her edges.
"Option A, a commercial resort, maximizing tourism value, estimated two years to break even."
"Option B, a high-tech ecological park, conforming to environmental principles, eligible for government subsidies."
"Option C, a private estate, ultimate luxury, best privacy."
William didn't look at the designs; he just picked up his coffee and took a sip.
"Miss Lei, what if I told you that I bought that island not for vacation, and not for making money?"
Lei Ling's gaze behind her lenses tightened slightly: "Then what is your purpose?"
"Security."
William put down his coffee cup and leaned forward slightly.
"I need a fortress. A fortress capable of withstanding conventional armies, and even... unconventional attacks."
Lei Ling fell silent.
She looked at the overly young employer in front of her, trying to find any trace of a joke on his face.
But she failed.
William's expression was very serious.
"You mean... a military stronghold?"
Lei Ling's voice was a little dry.
"No, that's too ugly, and too obvious."
William shook his head.
"On the surface, it's the headquarters of an insurance company, a high-tech R&D center, it can even be the ecological park you mentioned."
"But beneath the surface, I need a whole new World."
He took out a pen and drew a simple outline of an island on a napkin.
"First, the administrative and command center. I want a tower, let's call it the 'Watchtower.' I want to be able to stand in my office and monitor risk indices in any corner of the globe. This building itself must be an independent shelter capable of withstanding an apocalyptic strike."
Lei Ling's breathing began to quicken, and she instinctively picked up her pen, rapidly jotting notes in her notebook.
"Research area. I need the World's top laboratories to research materials, energy, and biotechnology. I also want a dedicated department to study things that... modern science cannot explain."
William glanced at her.
"Like magic, or mythological creatures."
Lei Ling's hand, holding the pen, paused for a moment.
"The most crucial part."
William's tone deepened, and he drew a circle in the center of the island, then heavily crossed it out.
"I want a detention center. A prison."
"A prison?"
"A prison that can hold super-powered individuals."
William said, enunciating each word.
"Those who can fly, those who can manipulate elements, those who can read minds, and even... those who can distort reality. I want to build this prison at the deepest part of the island, at the edge of the mantle."
Lei Ling suddenly looked up, her glasses reflecting the light, making her eyes unreadable.
"Mr. Rodriguez, are you joking? The edge of the mantle? Do you know the temperature and pressure there? Do you know what this means?"
"That's why I came to you, Miss Lei."
William smiled.
"Didn't you design a 'floating city'? Compared to that, digging a bit deeper shouldn't be too crazy, right?"
Lei Ling's chest heaved violently.
Crazy?
This was beyond crazy!
This was a myth!
This was an engineering project that only madmen and gods would conceive!
But... she looked at William's eyes, burning with Fire, at the absurd yet magnificent blueprint he sketched on the napkin, and her heart, belonging to a top designer, which had been dormant for three years, began to pound uncontrollably.
"Does this prison... have a name?"
She heard her own voice asking.
"Of course." William's smile grew even brighter, "I call it 'Abyss of Hades.'"
Lei Ling closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, the fatigue and confusion in her eyes were gone, replaced by a nearly fanatical glow.
"'Abyss of Hades'... a good name."
She took the napkin as if holding a rare treasure.
"If that's the case, then this prison must be tiered. According to threat level, from Alpha to Gamma layers, each layer will have different suppression technologies and materials."
"For elemental manipulators, use reverse energy fields; for psychics, use a mixed Vibranium and lead shielding; for physical powerhouses, use adjustable gravity fields and low-temperature environments."
"Continue."
William watched her with interest.
"It's not enough!"
Lei Ling's speech became faster and faster, as if years of suppressed inspiration were gushing forth at this moment.
"At the very bottom, we must set up a Delta layer, and even... an Omega layer! Cells will no longer be rooms, but independent life support pods, or force field cocoons, suspended in a vacuum."
"The entire area will be protected by reality anchors! This is no longer architecture; this is theology! This is Universe engineering!"
She looked up, her eyes gleaming as she gazed at William:
"Mr. Rodriguez, I can even design an internal tunnel system for you, connecting to an abandoned subway station in the Bronx, as the most secret transportation channel! And a full-island energy shield, as well as an automated ground-to-air and ground-to-sea defense matrix!"
William nodded with satisfaction.
Professionals should do professional things.
"Very good, Miss Lei, you're hired."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Now, tell me, roughly how much money will it take to achieve all of this?"
The fanaticism in Lei Ling's eyes gradually faded, replaced by the calm and rationality of a designer.
She took out her tablet, her fingers rapidly calculating, and astronomical figures kept popping up.
A few minutes later, she looked up, her expression becoming unusually serious.
"Mr. Rodriguez, considering the unconventional materials you requested, and the technologies that only exist in theory, such as reality anchors... I can only give a very rough estimate."
"Speak."
Lei Ling pushed up her glasses and said, enunciating each word:
"The amount of money you provided..."
She paused, then said in a factual, emotionless tone:
"Roughly... it's only enough for us to lay the foundation."
-------------------------------
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