Matthew handed his son to Flora, nodding at her: "Get everyone on board, I can climb."
With that, he grabbed the rope ladder, deftly beginning his ascent.
His movements were so fluid, as if he had done this countless times before.
The rescue boat was lowered.
Flora, clutching her son, climbed aboard, followed by Layla Gary.
Only Winky stood still.
Urged by the anxious stares of the others, he shook his head: "I want to die with the young lady... She's made many mistakes, but they're in the past.
I hope you can forgive her." He had promised to protect her in this life and death.
Of course, he couldn't leave her alone.
"After we're safely out, I'll send people to retrieve Selena's remains." Flora tried to persuade him: "Besides, do you think it's worth it? She never cared about you, even till her dying breath, she didn't care about what you wanted..."
"No... the young lady didn't want me to die, so she told me to follow you all.
She was the best to me... I can't let her cross over alone." Winky had lived for Selena, and now he wanted to die for her too.
Unable to persuade him, with the danger of the tomb collapsing at any moment and her son still unconscious, Flora had no choice but to grit her teeth and signal for the rescue team to pull them up.
As soon as they reached safety, a team of doctors rushed to take her son away.
Everyone's face was grave.
A sudden surge of fear hit her as she watched her son's small form being carried away on a stretcher, unable to divert her gaze.
"Don't cry..." Matthew gently comforted her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Just then, a high-pitched shout rang out: "Uncle, auntie!" Little Mimi ran hurriedly towards them, grabbing Flora's hand, babbling: "Finally you're back! I was so scared you couldn't find the way out! Did you know, your mother asked me to come support you two. I met old Uncle Patrick on the way, and we came together.
Who would've guessed he'd be so foolish as to insist on blowing up the tomb to rescue you? No matter how much I tried to dissuade him..." Thus explaining the near-disaster of the tomb's collapse.
Suddenly, the girl remembered something else: "Uncle, where is that lunatic Winky? I heard he was also inside."
"He wished to die with Selena." Matthew replied.
"What?" Mimi couldn't believe her ears: "Has he gone mad? Selena is such a repulsive woman, even in death, she won't let people rest in peace!"
Having said this, the girl dashed towards the rope ladder, swiftly climbing down amidst the incredulous stares of everyone present.
Matthew patted Flora's shoulder, smiling lightly: "Let her be. She's grown up now, and we can't control her anymore."
Flora still seemed a bit worried, but she resignedly nodded. She reached out and hugged him, her hand gently patting the back of his coat. But wait, why did her palm feel wet and sticky? Could it be...
She withdrew her hand, which was now smeared with blood from touching Matthew's back.
"You're injured! Quick, we need to bandage you up!"
"It's alright, it's just a minor wound, I'm not in pain." Regardless, he didn't want to waste time treating his injury right now, as they had more pressing concerns.
He led Flora to where a group of doctors were huddled around Charlie and asked: "Doctors, how's the situation?"
"The anesthetic is still in effect, so he's a bit drowsy. He should be fine once the effects wear off. The issue now is that he's lost too much blood, and we need to do a blood transfusion immediately." the doctor's voice betrayed his worry: "He's type A. Does anyone here have type A blood?" The last sentence was raised for everyone to hear.
Matthew looked at his son and spoke: "Take my blood."
But the doctor immediately rejected his offer: "You've already lost a lot of blood. You're anemic, we can't use your blood. Let me see if anyone else has type A blood..."
"No need. I'm his father, my blood... will be more suitable." He didn't specify why, but the doctor seemed to understand him and nodded.
After the blood transfusion, he comforted Flora: "Don't worry, our boy will be alright..." But as he finished this sentence, he felt dizzy, his face as white as a sheet. He collapsed onto the cold ground, consciousness sinking into darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a hospital. A young nurse was bustling around, arranging instruments on a cart. Noticing him awake, she put a finger to her lips: "Shh, don't make a sound. She just managed to fall asleep a bit."
"She" referred to Flora, who was resting her head next to his hospital bed.
"She's been worrying about you. For several days now, she has been staying in this room, taking care of you, never daring to stray too far."
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from outside, followed by the not-so-quiet opening of the door, and the rarely cheerful voice of Charlie: "Dad, you're awake?"
"Shh, quietly..." Matthew hastily signaled his son, but it was too late. The sleeping figure by his bed woke up, sitting up straight.
"You're awake..." Flora looked somewhat bewildered at the man in the bed, her brown eyes brimming with tears: "Finally, you're awake..."
"When dad fainted, he had lost too much blood. The doctors bandaged him up, he looked pretty awful." Charlie spoke up.
Followed by the voice of an unfamiliar little girl: "You looked like a mummy!"
Matthew glanced at the girl, then at his son's sulky face, then at Flora, his gaze seeming to ask who the girl was.
Flora smiled: "Don't you remember? When your men captured Daniel, they accidentally took this little girl as well. Now that the old man is dead, we don't know where to send her." So, for the time being, they had to let her stay.
"What a massive nuisance!" At this, Charlie chimed in: "She's even more annoying than that teddy bear." He complained a bit, then turned his attention back to his father: "Dad, are you still in pain? You got hurt saving me, and even gave me a blood transfusion..."
"It's because you are my son." Matthew tousled his son's hair.
The little girl who had been silent until now suddenly started to whimper: "Mom... I miss mom so much..."
Hearing the crying, Charlie decided to pause his emotional moment with his father to console the girl: "Don't cry. I asked my dad's people to find your mom. You'll be back with her soon."
"But I want to play with you too..."
The girl's words made Charlie grimace: "I don't want to play with an idiot like you!" Then the boy reached out, dragging the girl out of the room.
"By the way, your dad wants to see you." After the children had left, Flora brought up another matter: "He has visited a few times while you were unconscious."
Matthew nodded: "I'm afraid he might think I'm too frail to take care of his daughter. After all, a son-in-law must pass the father-in-law's test."
"It's not like my father hasn't met you before." Flora chuckled: "Let me go call him in. You wait a bit."
Very soon, Flora brought her father into Matthew's hospital room and then exited, leaving the two men to their private conversation.
She knew that her father wanted to meet Matthew privately, and that it was primarily because of things she couldn't and didn't want to interfere with.
Edsel did not sit down on the chair next to the hospital bed.
He stood about a meter away from the bed, silently looking at the figure lying there, as though assessing him.
Matthew broke the oppressive silence: "Please, sit."
The middle-aged man grunted, reluctantly sitting down.
His gaze bore into Matthew's eyes, and it was a while before he spoke: "The events at the ancient tomb have drawn a lot of attention, including from the media and press. How do you plan to handle this?"
Matthew did not hastily respond, but asked in return: "You know quite a bit about the secrets of that place, don't you?" Someone who knows nothing couldn't possibly hold the key to the second exit.
The only plausible explanation was that Edsel had known about the second exit of the ancient tomb, which was why he gave the key to Flora, offering her an additional chance to survive.
If she went with Matthew, his knowledge combined with her key would serve as their charm of protection.
But if she did not go, his fate would have to be seen.
"What was your relationship with X in the past? Everyone who worked under my foster father wanted to 'deal with' you, at all costs..." That was something that he pondered for a long time without finding an answer.
"If you want to know the truth, answer my question first." Edsel furrowed his brow: "Looking at your face, I suppose your solution is... not very good? Don't tell me you intend to give that thing to..."
Matthew promptly shook his head: "No."
"Inside it is a truly priceless treasure." Edsel asserted.
"Yes, it's a priceless treasure." Matthew nodded, he wasn't wrong in his assertion: "They are all antiquities that have been hidden for many years.
But they belong to the nation, so I will return them to the government."
A faint smile appeared on Edsel's lips and his facial muscles relaxed.
Matthew, sharp as ever, noticed that his emotional state had noticeably changed from when he first entered the room.
He became suspicious, furrowing his brow and asking: "It seems you're quite pleased that I've decided to hand this secret over to the government."
"Of course." Edsel made no attempt to conceal: "We are family after all, so I will be honest with you.
Actually, I'm not part of the underworld, but rather..."
"You're an international cop?" Matthew immediately guessed.
His deduction was not wrong.
Edsel casually nodded: "I established my power base merely to conceal my identity, in the hope of approaching your X organization.
I received intelligence from a colleague that X was dealing in illicit antiquities.
So, I tried to infiltrate X, or more precisely, get close to the head of X, collaborating with my colleague to bust the antique deals.
But... the head of X at the time began to suspect, hiding all the antiquities, and started investigating the organization internally." What happened next was predictable: "My colleague feared exposure, so he handed the key over to me.
Then a disturbance occurred within your organization, the former head died, and your foster father took over.
However... he and Ethelbert's father had a significant disagreement.
So, I was forced to make a choice."
And he chose Ethelbert's father.
It was because of this choice that he later adopted Ethelbert.