The large villa felt empty ever since the three little ones graduated and moved out. Now only the author Avdotya and Rafaela lived there. Sotis Nine would stop by, bringing snacks or small toys. When Exusiai and Texas returned to Lungn after missions, they stayed here as well.
Croissant envied them so much she joked her soul was splitting apart. She was just an ordinary bread-loving worker—how could she possibly afford a place in the city center or a villa? So she chose to live in the employee dormitories. Another mber, Sora, was a popular idol who lived in the sa apartnt building as her manager, though in separate rooms. Sora usually handled logistics on her own, and the manager only showed up when performances required coordination.
Returning ho, Felix finally relaxed. Texas took off her coat and went upstairs to change, while Exusiai lay sprawled on the sofa, letting out a blissful sigh.
Avdotya, knowing Felix would be coming ho, ca to greet him at the door. She wore gold-rimd glasses and comfortable house clothes, looking calm and poised.
"Welco back, Felix."
"It's been a while. You've grown even more composed," Felix said with a smile as he changed his shoes. "Your two new books sold well. With Tomorrow's Developnt handling the promotion, the sales were impressive."
"Yes, the editor is already rushing for the next one, but I don't have any ideas yet."
Avdotya had written a collection of Ursus poetry and personal essays for her first book, then a travelogue of Terra for her second. The third was yet to be started.
"What genre do you want to write next?"
"Hm… maybe a story about traveling aboard a massive ship."
After a mont of thought, she smiled gently.
Felix realized she must have heard about the landship from Lemuen and Mostima when they visited ho earlier. He nodded. "If you want to board the landship and travel across Terra with and Tomorrow's Developnt, you're welco to."
A faint smile appeared on her lips. She led Felix to his room. "Ella isn't ho from school yet. Honestly, you really whisked away Snowsant and the others all at once. Now Ella's the only kid left here. It's a bit lonely."
"I've thought about bringing her along too… Let's do this: once she's in high school, we'll see whether she wants to go to university. If not, I can take her onto the landship."
Truthfully, university students on Terra were rare. Unless soone wanted specialized developnt in a certain field, most people didn't even finish nine years of schooling—if such a system could be said to exist at all. So dropped out halfway through middle school; others finished elentary school only to start helping their families. Only a handful made it all the way to high school and then university.
Columbia and Leithanien had clusters of university students and even graduate students, but compared to the whole of Terra, they were still the minority.
Ella wanted to help Felix too. She dread of running a bar, inspired by her bartender father. Felix could easily open one for her on the dining deck of the Venus.
"I'm going to write the opening chapter now… Also… welco ho. I just wanted to say that. And… I missed you a little."
Avdotya stepped forward and hugged him lightly, giving him a soft kiss before returning to her room to write. Whether it was inspiration or motivation, her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Felix went back downstairs to the audiovisual room to relax with a movie. But barely ten minutes had passed when he heard the door quietly open.
Texas must have taken a shower. Her hair was damp, and she carried the faint scent of perfu. Wearing loose sleepwear, she slipped onto the sofa beside him.
"About Lappland… I want to thank you, Brother Felix."
Texas pressed herself closer, her breath warm and fragrant.
"Is Lappland still in Lungn?"
"Yes. She often takes combat commissions… and she always cos back covered in injuries."
Texas pressed her lips together. "I'm worried her Oripathy will worsen, but she looks like she still knows her limits."
"I see."
"I missed you."
Like a child seeking warmth, Cellinia shifted her body and lay across Felix, her toes brushing against his calf, tapping lightly against his skin.
"Love … will you?"
A movie with a runti of ninety minutes ended up taking nearly three hours to finish.
The next day, Felix t with Wei Yenwu for a private conversation. He brought many specialties from Kazdel and recounted its developnt over the recent years.
Felix emphasized the land and the seeds in particular. Kazdel's soil had always been terrible, practically like a pile of dung. It only began to improve after Felix intentionally started purchasing land and seeds. But players still needed to build sun shelters for protection. Sotis the sunlight was too harsh, and winters were bitterly cold. The temperature swung unpredictably.
Beyond farming, Felix shared the latest news from Ursus. He knew this intelligence ca from his personal network. He could browse the forums directly, watching what the players had uncovered.
"Ursus is unstable… You an the Ursus governnt?" Wei Yenwu frowned. This was not pleasant news. Yan and Ursus were not far apart. Without preparation, Ursus troops or mobile cities could easily cross the flat, unguarded border zone and strike any city in Yan.
Lungn was even closer to Ursus, which made this a serious concern.
"No. It's an organization made entirely of the Infected. They call themselves the Reunion Movent."
Felix continued, "They are seizing cities. While rescuing the Infected, they also end up infecting innocent people. Their ranks grow by the day."
"Reunion Movent…" Wei Yenwu rested his chin on his hand.
"What is the na of their leader? Do you know?"
"Seems her na is Talulah."
Crack.
The teacup slipped from Wei Yenwu's hand and shattered on the floor, hot tea splashing everywhere, soaking into the carpet and staining his clothes.
"Governor Wei, what's wrong?"
Wei Yenwu coughed twice, shock flickering in his eyes. At that mont, Aunt Fumizuki ca out after hearing the noise. She shot Wei a mild reproachful look and quietly began cleaning the ss.
She seed not to have heard anything of the conversation.
Wei Yenwu forced down the turmoil in his eyes. He no longer looked like a composed statesman. His emotions were already written across his face.
"Governor Wei?"
"…Let's continue the topic."
Only after Fumizuki left did Wei Yenwu speak with a calm voice, as if Felix had imagined his earlier reaction.
Felix displayed the deanor of a seasoned politician. He pretended to have seen nothing and resud explaining the situation with Reunion.
In the players' past life, no one ever uncovered the truth about Talulah's family, her origins, or her background. Ursus was a poor region, and it felt unbelievable that such a natural-born commander had co from there. People might accept her being nobility, but a random girl from so rural village? No one was buying it.
Felix had good reason to suspect that Talulah was soone Wei Yenwu knew. Perhaps a younger relative, given the age difference. Both were of Dragon heritage. It was not impossible that they were directly related. Be it Western or Eastern, dragon is dragon.
He did not say any of this aloud, but that did not stop the thoughts from forming.
For now, Reunion did not appear too dangerous. It was mostly Ursus dealing with its own internal chaos. Felix had no desire to intervene. But once the 3.0 storyline began, that might change. Talulah's strength in this life was both weaker and stronger in different ways. In the previous tiline, thanks to the players' presence, she never conducted large-scale forced recruitnt by infecting civilians.
In this tiline, because players had banded together to form the Brotherhood, Reunion had no access to them and had to rely on ordinary Terrans. So players had even attempted to join Reunion out of curiosity. They discovered the faction had terrible logistics. The equipnt they issued was worse than the rcenary gear from Kazdel's 1.0 battlefield. Food was unreliable, and supplies nonexistent. The only way to restock was by raiding and sacking towns like a group of Mongol raiders.
This playstyle imdiately drove away most normal players. But it attracted the chaotic-evil crowd, who vented their real-world frustrations by wreaking havoc alongside Reunion's Infected. There were also a few jokester players who joined simply to watch the entire organization crash and burn.
Wei Yenwu's expression darkened. He shook his head and voiced the sa opinion as Felix.
"An organization built on hatred cannot survive for long."
"But it can burn fiercely before it turns to ashes, can't it?"
After a brief silence, Wei Yenwu finished his tea in one slow sip. "This matter stays between us."
"Of course, Governor."
The unrest in Ursus would only make its governnt feel mildly irritated, not truly hurt. They could wipe out these small troublemakers with ease. Yet before that happened, Reunion would continue to stir chaos and cause problems for Ursus's nobility. That alone was beneficial for Yan Country, and more than welco.
Seeing that both cups were empty, Felix reached over and refilled them. Wei Yenwu let out a low chuckle. "Am I the first person to drink tea poured by you?"
Felix thought about it. Good grief—he actually was.
"Hmph. Your landship has been under construction for years. Now it's finally nearing completion."
Wei Yenwu blew aside the tea leaves drifting on the surface. "It feels like watching a child grow, taking their first steps toward maturity, and then letting them go into the wide world. I didn't expect you'll reach this age."
"Isn't that a bit dramatic, Governor?"
"How long do you think I've known you?"
Wei Yenwu spoke calmly. "I'm not so long-lived species. How many sets of years do I get in one lifeti? You were just a stubborn kid back then pretending to act mature. I rember it clearly."
"This ti, once you leave, you probably won't co back, will you?"
He phrased it as a question, but it sounded as if he already knew.
"Governor Wei, you're exaggerating. Lungn is my second ho. How could I never co back?"
Felix spoke honestly. "Because of what Tomorrow's Developnt is, so operations simply can't be perford within national borders. It's easier to work in the uninhabited zones. We also need to travel to different regions and carry out missions with different operators. In the end, instead of turning a city into our base, it's better to build a massive landship that can hold all our dreams and sail toward the future."
Wei Yenwu fell into an unusually long silence. He reflected for a mont, then spoke softly. "This is about Little Ch'en."
The Wei Yenwu standing before him felt unfamiliar—like an old man entrusting soone with his child, or a parent burdened by regret. The complex emotions he carried washed over like a tide, enough to make anyone's breath catch.
Faced with him, Felix found it difficult to refuse. Hard to say no. And honestly, if he had no feelings toward Ch'en Hui-chieh at all, he would have rejected Wei Yenwu outright the first ti he joked about it. But he hadn't.
In their short ti together, Felix had co to feel that Ch'en Hui-chieh was worth caring about. She was reliable, and a woman who carried justice and uncertainty in her heart.
"I'll look after her. Don't worry, Governor Wei. As long as I'm here, she won't be hard."
That was what he said.
"Good."
Wei Yenwu stood up. His expression turned solemn, carrying a natural authority. He headed toward the elevator first. "Follow ."
Felix followed beside him.
They left the office together and took the elevator down to the lowest level. It was the training hall. Because they had co at the right ti, no one else was around—everyone was out on assignnts.
"Is Governor Wei trying to test whether I'm strong enough to protect Ch'en Hui-chieh?"
Felix looked at him in surprise. Wei Yenwu had already taken a practice longsword from the rack.
"Do you know how to use a sword?"
He didn't answer Felix's question.
With a doubtful tone, Felix replied, "If Lance and twin-bladed swords count, then…"
"That's not a sword."
Wei Yenwu tossed him a training longsword. Felix raised his hand and caught it. He did have so experience. When he trained with Kirill and the mbers of the Nearl family, he had learned a few techniques from uncle. But according to uncle, it was only the sort of wandering swordsman style that barely counted as proper swordsmanship.
"Co at ."
Wei Yenwu picked up another longsword of the sa type. "If you want to walk further on the path of martial arts, then you need to know how to use a sword."
[Wei Yenwu: Lv ?]
(green na)
[Description: Lungn Executive…]
[Danger Level: The difference is not in strength, but in understanding of martial arts] (purple)
Reviews
All reviews (0)